Yorkshire in olden times

ptfrbMp in M&^n Sim^s

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Number

Of 400 Copies printed for Sale.

orksl^tij^ m OIkn Wm^s

EDITED BY

WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.,

A uthor of '■ Historic Yorkshire," etc.

LONDON:
SIMI'KIN. MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO., LD.

HULL:
A. BROWN AND SONS.

1890

J3A
(on t

PREFACE.

The following papers are re-printed from the Wakefield Fyee Press
and other journals. The articles, when first published in the
columns of the newspapers, met with such favour as to induce me
to believe that, if brought together in a volume, they would not be
deemed an unwelcome contribution to Yorkshire Literature

WILLIAM ANDREWS.

Hull Literary Club,

June ist, 1890

511.039

LISRAR/

An Outline History of Yorkshire

At the earliest period of which we have
any record in ancient history, what is now
the County of York was occupied by a tribe
of British Celts, whom Tacitus calls Brig-
antes, a Cymric name which appears to have
been derived from the Gaelic braicjhe, " high
land." They were not confined to Yorksliire,
however, but inhabited all the north of Eng-
land, from sea to sea, and from the Humber
to the Tweed. Traces of their occupation of
the county have been found in recent times,
sill over the Wolds, in excavations and graves,
from which rude pottery and their flint
weapons and implements have frequently
been exhumed. Nothing is known of the
history of this primitive race of Yorkshire-
men prior to the time, nearly a century after
the southern and central portions of England
had been subdued by the Romans, when the
imperial legions marched in, under Ostorious
Scapula, under the pretext of repressing
internal disorder. The Brigantes were not

2 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

then conquered, but remained independent
nearly twenty years longer. The greater
part of their territory was then brought under
bubjection to the Roman Emperors by
Petilius Cerealis, and in the year 78 their
conquest was completed by Agiicola. This
part of England was then constituted a pro-
vince of the empire under the name of
JMaxima Ceesariensis, and the seat of govern-
ment fixed at York, then called Eboracum._

THE ROMANS IN YORKSHIRE

Under the Eoman rule, roads were made
through the province, permanent camps
formed, and towns built, in which all the
arts and refinements of Roman civilisation
were soon introduced. Eboracum, in paiti-
cular, had its temples and palaces, its amphi-
theatre and baths, its forts and walls, of
which latter there yet remains the multan-
gular tower in the grounds of the Yoikshire
Philosophical Society. Statues, busts, vases,
sarcophagi, and coins of this period have at
various times been found and have added to
our limited knowledge of the time when a
Roman legion garrisoned the city, and the
Roman Emperors rested within its walls
•when they occasionally visited this remote
part of tlieir extensive dominions. Two
Emperors, Severiis and Constantius, died at
Eboracum, and Constantine was there pro-
claimed Emperor on the death of his father.
On the withdrawal of the Roman legions

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES 3

from Britain, consequent on the incursions
of the Goths into Italy, the history of York-
shire becomes obscure, and tne materiiils for
its narration are very scanty. We know,
however, that the Scots broke down the
norlhern wall, which had been constructed
under the Koman rule as a bulwark against
their raids, and ravaged the country, until
they were routed and driven out by the
Saxons.

YORKSHIRE UNDER THE HEPTARCHY.

It was nearly a century after the first
landing of th^ Saxons in England that Ida,
a chief of that bold, enterjDrising race, disem-
barked with his hardy followers at Flam-
borough, and, after a protracted struggle
with the Brigantes, over-ran and subdued
all the country between the Humber and the
Tweed. He was followed by his kinsman
Ella, who sailed up the Humber, and landed
a little above Hull, in a district where his
name has been preserved in the villages of
West Ella, Kirk Ella, Ellerby, Elloughton,
and EUerker. Ida had scarcely established
himself in the old Brigantian kingdom when
lie had to defend it against Ella, by whom
he was ultimately forced to vacate all the
country between tlie Huml)er and tlie Tees,
Thus were formed the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
of JJeira and Bernicia, the former compre-
hending Yorkshire and the latter Durham
and Northumberland. Under Ella's s^n and
successor, Edwin, these two .kingdoms were,^

4 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES*

by the aid of Redwald, King of East Anglia,
•united by conquest under the name of North-,
umbria. Edwin married a Christian princess
named Ethelbii^ga, and by her persuasions
and. the preaching of the Roman monk
Paulinus he was converted to his wife's faith.
The great temple of Woden at Godmanding-
iiam was thereupon demolished, and Edwin
founded at York a Christian church, the
precursor of the present Minster. But
Penda, King of Mercia, who adhered to the
old faith, and had made a vow to root out the
new religion, invaded Northumbria, in con-
j auction with Cad walla, King of Wales, and
overthrew Edwin's army in the battle of
Heathtield, Edwin was slain in the conflict,
and for the time Christianity was blotteil
out. Northumbria again became divided into
two kingdoms, and a fierce though desultory
war was carried on between their kings and
the Mercian invaders until Penda was slain
in a battle with the Bernicians. Oswy, King,
of the northern kingdom, then turned his
arms against Oswin, King of Deira, after
whose foul murder he became ruler of all
Northumbria.

INCURSIONS OF THE DANES.

Towards the end of the eighth century,
by which time the kingdoms of the Htip-
tarchy had become united under Egbert,
King of Wessex, the eastern coast of England
began to be visited and ravaged by rovers

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 5

from the islands of the Baltic and the shores
of Jutland. The fleets of these "sea kings"
appeared oflf the Yorkshire coast, or sailed
up the Humber, again and again, plundering
the monasteries and then putting to sea
until in 867 a larger force of Danes than had
yet landed marched upon York and inflicted
upon the Northumbrians a severe defeat.
Twelve years later these invaders over-ran
and subdued tlie greater part of Yorkshire
and made a permanent settlement. Anlaf,
their chief, set up a Danish kingdom in
Northumbria, but he was overthrown and
expelled by Atheist an, and thereupon took
refuge in Stotland. Constantine, king of that
country, invaded the northern counties in
order to restore him, but the Scots were
defeated by xVthelstan, who pursued them
beyond the Tweed and ravaged their country.
It is recorded that the English monarch, on
his march northward, stopped at Beverley,
where he deposited his sword on the altar of
the Minster, promising great gifts to the
church in the event of his being victorious,
and was permitted to carry with him the
banner of St John, under which he won the
battle. He redeemed his pledge by granting
important privileges to the church and town
of Beverley, and also to York. There has
been much controversy as to the place at
wliich this battle, called Brunanburgh, was
fought, and the point is still in dispute, and
will probably never be determined. Various

6 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

localities have been named by different
writers, the balance of evidence being in
favour of one or other of two localities,
namely, Little Weigliton, near Beverley, and
the vicinity of Bamborough Castle, in Nor-
thumberland. Antiquaries have yet to
decide upon the respective claims of these
two places.

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR IN YORKSHIRE.

When Canute, King of Denmark, became
King of England, he assigned Noithumbria
to a chief named Eric, and from that time
until the Norman Conquest the country was
governed by earls, with vice-regal authority,
the most notable of these dignitaries being
Tosti, of whom a remarkable record exists
at Kirkdale in an Anglo-Saxon inscription on
the sun-dial at the church, and who, being
exiled in 10G5, fell in the battle of Stamford
Bridge, fighting on the side of Harald, King
of Norway. Harald was banqueting at York,
on the day after this battle, when he heard of
the landing of William, Duke of Normandy,
with a large army, on the coast of Sussex, and
immediately proceeded southward by forced
marches. The result is well known. It
was not until the summer of 1068, however,
that William led his victorious Normans
northward, and, having captured York, built
a castle there, probably on the site of an
•earlier work. Beyond this city, Northumbria
was still unconquered, and Norman garrisons

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 7

were accordingly placed in the castle and in
a fort on Baile Hill, on the opposite side of
the Ouse. In the following year a combined
force of Danes and Northumbrians, led by
the sons of Sweyn, King of Denmark, Earl
Cospatric, and Edgar Atheling, made its ap-
pearance before York, attacked and captured
the castles, while the city, having been fired
by the Normans, was in flames. William
was so enraged when the news of this affair
reached him that he marched in hot haste
into Yorkshire, and ravaged the whole
country between the Humber and the Tyne.
Beverley alone escaped his destroying hand.
Tlie land was untiUeil that year, and a
terrible famine was the result. After the
country had recovered from the loss and
suffering of that spoliation, the Norman
lords to whom William had given estates in
Yorkshire — the Percies, Mowbrays, Lacies,
and Cliffords — built castles and founded
churches and monasteries, on the sites of
those which had been destroyed. Whitby
Abbey and St. Mary's, at York, were re-
founded by some Benedictines from Eves-
ham, however, and it was not until the
twelfth century that the great monastic
houses were founded for which Yorkshire
afterwards Ijccame famous, and the ruins of
which remain to attest their former magni-
ficence. Thnrstan, Archbishop of York from
llli) to 1140, was a great patron of the
Cistercian order, whose first house in this
country, Kievaulx, was founded in 1131

8 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

The splendid Abbey of Fountains also owed
its foundation to his influence and help.

THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARD.

Tlie most important event in Yorkshire
history subsequent to the Norman Conquest
occurred in the reign of Stephen, when
David, King of Scotland, invaded England
in support of his niece, the Empress Matilda
of Germany, daughter of Henry I., and was
met near Northallerton by an English army,
headed by Archbishop Thurstau, and com-
pelled to retreat with the loss of 11,000 men.
The doughty deeds of the legendary T?obin
Hood and his " nierrie men," the outlaws of
Sherwood Forest, may be dismissed as
apocryphal, whatever regret may be felt by
the admirers of Scott's splendid romance of
" Ivanhoe" at the dissociation of the bold
archer from the scenes around which the
novelist has thrown the spell of his genius.
After the battle of the Standard, the next
actual occurrence of importance in the
history of the county was the foray of the
Scots, under the Black Douglas, in 1322,
when the Earl of Richmond was taken
])risoner in a skirmish among the hills near
Byland, and Edward H. was forced to beat
a hasty retreat from the neighbourhood. In
the same year the Earl of Lancaster raised an
insurrection in Yorkshire against the king,
on account of the privileges and benefits
bestowed on his unworthy favourite, Piers
Gaveston, whom he captured in Scar-

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 9

borough Castle, and beheaded on Blacklow
Hill, in Warwickshire. Gaveston being suc-
ceeded in the royal favour by the De
Spencer?, the Earl of Lancaster again took
up arms, but was defeated and taken prisoner
at Boroughbridge, and executed at Ponte-
fract.

THE WARS OF THE ROSES.

It was in Yorkshire, at a later date, that
the first blow was struck in the long strife
between the Yorkist and Lancastrian
branches of the Plantagenet dynasty, when
Henry, the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of
Lancaster, returned from exile with an army,
and landed at Ravenspurn to tear the crown
from the head of his youthful cousin,
Richard IL The ancient cross at Hedon is
said to have been originally erected at
Ravenser, or Ravenspurn, near Kilusea, to
commemorate this event. Richard, after his
deposition, was taken successively to Leeds,
Pickering, Knaresborough, and Pontefract,
where, in the Castle, he was cruelly put to
death, though the precise manner in which
tlie tragedy was enacted is not certainly
known. Out of this usurpation of the throne
by Henry arose the long and terrible " War .
ot the Roses," in the course of which were
foii-lit the battle of Wakefield in HGO, when
Richard, Duke of York, was slain, and the
decisive battle of Towton, in the following
year, the result of which restored the crown
to the rightful branch.

lO YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE.

The Eeformation gave rise, in the next
century, to very serious disturbances iu
Yorkshire, having for their object the restora-
tion of the Rora.sh Church and the re-estab-
lishment of the monasteries which had been
dissolved by Henry Vlll., but owing much
of their support from the people to the
discontent which was excited by tlie enclosure
of commons and the distress arising from
the withdrawal of the alms bestowed at the
monasteries upon the indigent. The move-
ment known as " the Pdgrimage of Grace"
commenced in Lincolnshire, where it was
soon suppressed ; but a Yorkshire gentleman
named Aske, who had been seized by the
insurgents, and compelled to swear to sup-
poit their cause, found on his return home
that all Yorkshire w^as in a ferment, owing
to a letter bearing his signature having been
circulated through the county, calling upon
the people to take arms in defence of the old
religion. Lord D'Arcy, a nobleman of great
influence in the East Riding, was secretly in
favour of the movement, and assisted the
insurgents without openly committing him-
self to their cause. A rising took place, the
rendezvous being Market Weighton Common,
where Aske was nominated to the chief
command ; and the insurgents, being joined
by Sir Thomas Percy, brother of the Earl
of 'Northumberland, marched upon York,
where the gates were at once opened to

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. II

them. Thence they proceeded to Pontefract,
where Lord D'Arcy surrendered the castle to
them, and joined them, with his small garri-
son. The Archbishop ot York openly
embraced their cause at the same time, and
Hull was soon in their hands, and Skiptou
Castle invested.

The insurrection gained ground rapidly.
All the nobility and gentry of the north,
except the Cliffords, Dacres, and Musgraves,
threw themselves into it, and the insurgent
army moved from Pontefract towards Don
caster, in three divisions. The Earl of
Shrewsbury had, in the meantime, advanced
northward with the royal forces, and reached
the Don, which he was prevented from
crossing by its swollen condition, it being
then the latter end of October, A herald
who was sent to Aske by the earl was
informed that it was the intention of the
insurgents " to go to London on pilgrimage
to the King's Highness, there to have all the
vile blood of his council put from him, and
all the noble blood set up again, and also the
faith of Christ and his laws to be kept, and
full restitution to Christ's Church of all
wrongs done unto it; and also the com-
monalty to be used as they should be."
Other communications passed between
Stirewsliury and Aske, and then a conference
took place between them, others of each
party being present, on the bridge at Don-
caster, It was agreed that Sir Kobert
Bowes and Sir Ralph EUerker should present

12 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

the demands of the insurgents to the King,
the Duke of Norfolk undertaking to per-
sonally escort them, and that in the mean-
time the musters on botK sides should be
disbanded. The envoys were detained a
fortnight, and Yorkshire continued in a
disturbed state. Skipton Castle held out
successfully, but the delay of the King's reply
excited the minds of the people of the dis-
affected districts, and it began to be feared
that the leaders would become impatient,
and cross the Ilumber. Aske called the
disbanded insurgents to his banners again,
and a council of notables and the clergy was
convened at Pontefract. Aske presided over
an assembly of 34 nobles and knights in the
great hall of the castle, and the Archbishop
of York over a convocation of the northern
clergy in the church. The prelate, though
thus giving moral support to the rebellion,
now declared that he had joined the in-
surgents under constraint, and pronounced
the assembly unla>vful and the movement
treasonable. This declaration caused so
much exasperation that he was dragged from
the pulpit, and would have been killed if he
had not been rescued by friendly hands
from his assailants. After he had left the
church, the assembled clergy drew up a
series of articles condemnatory of everything
that had been done by the reformers of the
Church.

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I3

The King was, in the meantime, acting in
a very wily manner. He had received the
deputation graciously, won them over from
the insurgent cause, and then given them
letters to others of the rebel leaders with the
same object. Commissioners from Henry
were sent to Doncaster with what Aske and
the other leaders of the rebellion understood
as the concession of all their demands. All,
however, that was really promised was a
general pardon, the assembling of a Parlia-
ment at York m the following summer, and
the institution of a Northern Council, which
was to sit at York, under the presidency of
the Duke of Norfolk. Aske was invited to
London by the King, by whom he was well
received ; but on his return to Yorkshire he
found the people excited by their doubts as
to the King's intentions, and he wrote to
Henry, setting forth the situation, and in-
timating plainly that a second outbreak
might be expected. His anticipations were
fulfilled, another rising taking ])lace under
Sir Francis Bigot, but the only eliect, so well
had the King taken his measures, was the
affording of a pretext for the withdrawal of
the promised concessions and the issue of
orders for the punishment of all offences
committed subsequently to the Doncaster
conference. Martial law was proclaimed, and
arrests took place throughout the northern
counties. Seventy-four persons, including
many priests and monks, were hanged,
and many more imprisoned. Aske, Lord

14 YORKSHIRE IN ©LDEN TIMES.

D'Arcy, and Sir Robert Constable were
arrested and sent to tlie Tower, but whether
on account of their participation in the
rebellion, or on the charge of treasonable
correspondence with Cardinal Pole, is un-
certain, all political trials of that period
being more or less secret, and political
executions stamped with the odium of
judicial murders. They were all executed —
Aske at York, D'Arcy in London, and
Constable at Hull.

The Northern Council was duly established,
and had its head- quarters at York for more
than a century. It had a jurisdiction in all
cases of riot and conspiracy, not only in
Yorkshire, but also in Durham, Northumber-
land, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, and a
limited jurisdiction in civil cases. It was
abolished by the Long Parliament, at the
same time as the arbitrary Court of Star
Chamber.

ANOTHER CATHOLIC CONSPIRACY.

Thirty years after "the Pilgrimage of
Grace," Yorkshire and other northern coun-
ties were agitated by rumours of the intended
marriage of the Queen of Scotland with the
Duke of Noifolk, with the result of new
combinations and conspiracies, the objects of
which were said to be the liberation of the
former, her recognition as heir to the English
crown, and the restoration of the old religion.
In October, 1569, the Earls of Northumber-
land and Westmoreland, and many other

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 1 5

northern gentlemen, assembled at Topcliffe,
one oTTfie' mansions of the first-named
nobleman, in the expectation of receiving
intelliirenee of a risinsintlie eastern comities.
tonT'Eurleigh had succeeded, however, in
detaching the Duke of Norfolk from tlie
movement, and a letter was sent to Topcliffe
by the latter, begging the conspirators not to
move, as an outbreak would be the signal for
his trial and execution. Their plans had not
been well concealed, however, and the two
earls received the Queen's commands to
present themselves at Court. They refused
to obey, and large bodies of armed insurgents
assembled at Ilaby, and marched to Durham
under the old banners of the Pilgrimage of
Grace. From Durham thej'..inoved southward
to Darlington, increasing in numericaF
strength as they went, and everywhere openly
l)rqclaimirig their intention to restore "^the
ancient and catholic faith." The Earl of
Sussex, who was then at York as President
of tlie Co'*tuicil, hod not a sufficient foice at
liand to arrest their progress, and they
marched on to liipon, Knaresborongh, and
Tudcaster, intending to proceed to Tutbury,
ill Staffordshire, where the Queen of Scotland
was then confined in the castle, release her,
and march on to London. At Tadcaster thev
learned that Maty had been hastily removed
to Coventry,aTid thereupon paused to consider
the new situation thus created. They were
in communication with the Duke of Alva,
who Would no^ move to their support until

l6 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES,

Mary was at liberty, and many of the Catholic
gentry were not willing to move without the
help of Spain. After resting a few days at
Tadcaster, the rebels retreated northward,
therefore, and by the end of November were
broken up into detached bands.

The Earl of Northumberland returned to
Durham. The Earl of Westmoreland joined
Sir George Bowes, who, with a small
following, had entrenched himself before
Ba'-nard Castle. After a few days' siege,
Bowes surrendered, and Westmoreland fled
to Raby, Dacres, of Naworth, had with-
drawn from the movement, and was now at
Carlisle. The royal forces advanced
northwards, and the two earls, with their
wives and a remnant of their followers, fled
across the border into Scotland. There, for
a time, they found a refuge among the lawless
moss-troopers. Westmoreland, the two
countesses, Norton of Norton Conyers, and
his two sons, ultimately succeeded ii» quitting
the country and crossing tlie sea to Flanders.
Northumberland was less fortunate, being
captured by stratagem, given up to the Regent
Murray, and imprisoned three years in
Lochlevin Oastle, in the rooms which had been
occupied by Mary. He was then delivered
to Elizabeth, and executed at York. Thojugh-
the insurrection had been almost bloodless,
the vengeance of Elizabeth fell heavily on all
who were known to have taken part in it.

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 1 7

Domiciliary visits all over the disaffected
districts on the same night were made, and
thousands of persons arrested, of whom
between six and seven hundred were sum-
marily executed in the towns through which
the insurgents had marched. These were all
farmerSj artisans, and labourers. Eleven men
of higher social position were tried at York,
and four of them were hanged, while the
property of the others was declared forfeited
to the Crown.

THE GREAT CIVIL WAR.

Yorkiihire and Yorkshiremen figured
conspicuously in the events of the great civil
war of the next century. In 1640 Charlesl.
was at York, preparing to march with an
army into Scotland, then in open revolt
against Archbishop Laud's attempt to impose
Episcopacy and the English liturgy upon the
people. The Scotch were first in the field.
They crossed the Tweed, and advanced
towards the Tees. Charles coi.vened a
council of peers at York, and by their advice
Parliament— the famous Long Parliament —
was assembled. Royal commissioners went
to Ripon to negotiate with the Scotch leaders,
but Avithout effect. The contest between the
King and the House of Commons soon drew
to a head, and Charles again left London for
York, where he was lodged in the mansion
now known as the Manor House, which had
Ijcen built with a portion of the materials of
the ruined abbey of St. Mary. Tiie civil war

l8 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

broke out soon afterwards, the first act of
rebellion being the closing of the gates of
Hull against the King by Sir John Hotham.
Yorksiiire was, speaking generally, well
disposed to the royal cause, but the Fairfaxes
were active and energetic on the side
of the Parliament, and the forces of the
Marquis of Newcastle suffered serious losses
from them, and were compelled to abandon
the siege of Hull. The siege of York,
■whither Newcastle proceeded after this failure,
followed, and Prince Rupert was summoned
from Lancasliire to its relief. 'J"he Parlia-
mentarians moved from the city to intercept
him, and took up a commanding position for
that purpose on Marston Moor. The prince
succeeded by a flank movement in reaching
York, however, and the Parliamentary
generals, on learning that he had entered the
city, determined to march southward, but
abandoned that intention on being informed
that Rupert was moving from York to
attack them. They faced about, occupied
the rising ground between Marston and
Tockwith, and gave battle to the royal forces
there on the 2nd July, 1644. Then ensued,
says Carlyle, •' the most enormous hurly-burly
of fire and smoke, and steel flashings, and
death tumult, ever seen in those regions."
The result is known. The royalists were
completely routed, and fled along the side of
AVilstropWood, pursued by the Parliamentary
cavalry to within a mile of York.

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 19

York surrendered on honourable con-
ditions, and the royal cause might from that
time have been coiisi'iered lost. PontetVact
and Scarborougli still held out for the King,
ami were the last strongholds to be
surrendered. Scarboiouyh surrendered in
July, 1645, but in 1648 Colonel Bo\ nton,
who was tlien governor of the castle, declared
for the King, ami the town sustained a second
siege, from August to December, when
Boynton was forced to surrender. Pontefract
held out until after the execution ot the
King, when the garrison immediately pro-
claimed Charles II. ; and did not surrender
until its original 500 defenders had been
reduced by tha casualties of war to 100.

With the close of the great civil war the
history of the olden time in Yorkshire reaches
its natural conclusion. The incidents of the
Plantagenet and Tudor periods, which have
furnished the ground-work of so many
delightful works of fiction, and which are so
closely associated with the era during which
the old feudal system was in operation,
became impossible under the altered con-
ditions which came into operation during the
first half of the seventeenth century. The
state of society, the amusements of the
people, tho manners and customs of all
classes, underwent a corresponding change,
and everything showed that the "good old
times," as they have been called, had passed
away, never to return.

Thomas Fiiost.

The Cow Devil.

A LEGEND OF CRAVEN.

A month could scarcely tie better spent in
summer or autumn, than in Upper Wharfe-
dale, in Craven, on the skirts of Pennygant
and Wheruside, by the geologist, the lover
of wild nature, the archaeologist, or the
student of folklore. The scenery of that
Pennine region is somewhat peculiar in its
character, resembling neither that of the
Lake district, the Peak, Wales, or the High-
lands of Scotland. It presents a confused
heap of rocks and mountains, raised from
eigliteen hundred to three thousand feet
above the sea, alternating with open moors,
and feeding innumerable rivulets, which come
tumbhng aown more or less precipitately
over masses of boulders from the springs in
which they originate, and unite at the
openings of deep water-worn doughs, which
by-and-by expand into narrow grassy valleys,
the upland slopes of which are feathered with
iialural woods of ash, intermixed with birch,
oak, beech, and maple, commonly called
sycamore. The mountain or carboniferous
limestone which forms the basis of the district,
presents in many places bold bluff precipices
and escarpments, and is trequently fuund
pierced by large natural caverns. One of the
most remarkable of these escarpments is Kiln-
sey Crag, near the village of that name,which
is about IGO feet high, and extends nearly half-

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. , 21

a-mile along the valley. It is greatly worn
at its base, just like cliffs on the sea coast
that are continually exposed to the dashing
of the waves; and there can be no doubt
that Wharfedale was once an arm of the sea,
and this craar a sea cliff on which the waves

O

broke for ages. Two miles north-west of
Kilnsey, and opposite the village of Hawks-
wick, there is an interesting cavern, called
Dowkabottom Cave ; it is situated on a lofty
plateau of the KUusey range of crags, 1,250
feet above the sea, and is of considerable
extent. Some twenty years ago, a great
quantity of bone was discovered in it, con-
sisting ot the skulls and jaw-bones of wild
dogs and wolves, mingled with bones of deer,
sheep, oxen, horses, etc. There were like-
wise traces of human habitation, such as
spear heads, glass and shell ornaments, clasps
or buckles, and fragments of pottery, besides
coins of several of the lioman Emperors —
many of them clumsy forgeries, showing that
the coiner was afoot in the third and fourth
centuries of our era, justifying the law of the
Emperor Constantine, by wliich such offenders
were declared guilty of high treason, and
condemned to be burnt alive. On the hill
above the cavern grows the mountain avens
(Dryas octo ptitala), a rare plant, which is
found native oidy on the highest mountains
and flowers in .June. In one of the most
romantic parts of the district, nearly opposite
the village of Couiston, stood, some seventy

22 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

years ago, an old and venerable mansion, over-
looking the Wharfe, rolling rapidly past over
a rocky channel, as if hurrying down to the
Strid, ten miles below, where the force of
the hill floods, operating for untold ages, has
worn in the living rock so narrow and deep
a channel that it may be crossed by a single
stride, and in endeavouring to bound across
which the only son ot the Lady Alice de
Kommile, Wordsworth's "Noble boy of
Egremond," lamentably perished, causing, as
tradition tells, an ''endless sorrow," to his
fond mother, which prompted lier to found
and endow Bolton Abbey. Higher up the
valley is seen the place where tiie Skirfare
or Lytton Brck joins the. Wharfe. and the
dales divide, while in the distance the eye is
forcibly attracted hy the lofty liills, amongst
which the mist-encircled Wiiernside raises its
towernig head, A mansion in so lovely a
situation might have been thought a desirable
resilience for any gentleman of fortue, who
Avished to retire fiom the gay t<cenes of
fashional)le life, and live in seclusion and
solitude ; hut this house had been for many
years without a tenant, not because it was
not otherwise eligible, but because it was
reputed to be haunted. Strange and un-
accountable noises were heard within it,
lights were beheld in the win. lows, and
figures dressed in uncouth ijuise a[>peared to
the view of the horritied midnight wiuderer.
This was not deemed in the least degree

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 23

surprising by the simple-minded natives of
Wiiarfedale, unsophisticated as they were in
the days of our grandmothers. Among the
old people, even yet, one finds the belief in
ghosts, fairies and witches, which was once
universal, stubbornly lingering. The bleak
barren hills, stupendous crags, gloomy caves,
mountain cataracts, and dreadful thunder and
snowstorms seam to have a natural tendency
to create and foster superstition, and to
people the depths of every glen and the
i'.iterior of every mountain with supernatural
beings, tricksy or malign. The story went
that the old mansion house referred to had
been inhabited, a long time before, by a very
wicked man learned in the law, who used his
skill in chicanery, to outwit, fleece, and
villainously oppress and rob his neighbours,
and particularly to cheat his clients, every
one of whom had reason in the end to curse
the day they employed him. He was, how-
ever, it seems, fond of a somewhat less
objectionable or cruel sport, being a keen
fox hunter, and after his (kath, wms believed
to "come back" toe.jj )y it. a;id ixUo lo hold
nightly carousa's wiili ^liosrs of like pro-
pensilifs. which accounted for tlie strange
siglits the people used U> see. Moreover,
the gang wei'e woii to i.^siie forth ab(jut
miiiiiiglit to engage in a grand hunt through
the grounds sun-ounchnii the ; ouse. Here the
od Skin-eui- alive. <lre^S(i(l in his wig and
go wij,aud mounted on a skeleton horse, hunted

24- YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

nightly ia company with his infernal majesty,
who appeared in the shape of a huge monster
caparisoned with a pair of horns, and
attended by an innumerable pack of hell-
dogs-. Persons who professed to have been
spectators of the hunt, and who averred that
they could not be mistaken about it, said thf^
devil blew his horn in a clear and masterly
manner, and shouted "Tally ho! as well as
the best huntsman in Graven ; but they did
not all agree as to the object of the hunt,
some maintaining that the old lawyer was
really the hunted party, and that he well
deserved to be so for the way he had hunted
most people when alive. Amongst those
few inhabitants who laughed this legend to
scorn, there flourished, about the end of the
last centur}', a man whose name has been
handed down to us as William Robinson.
Bill was one of those characters, who, to
use a common phrase, feared neither God nor
Devil, being a regular attendant at the ale
hoase in Kilnsey, and a most notorious and
incorrigible poacher. Once on a dark
autumnal night, Will, pursuing bis unlawful
vocations, was fearlessly passing through
the grounds around the haunted house,
breaking down the hedges and climbing the
walls that opposed his progress. As he was
leaping from the top of one of the walls into
the next field, he fell upon something wliich
was very rough. What it was he knew not,
but up it rose and took off v/ith him on its

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 25

back at a merry trot. Bill was considering
in whose power he was, when the old leji^end
rushed upon his memory, and he who had so
often ridiculed the story, believed himself
mounted on the old enemy of the wicked
lawyer, and this belief w?s confirmed by
feelmg that his steed had a pair of horns.
The affrighted poacher gave himself up as
lost, called on all the persons of the Trinity,
and invoked the aid of the Evangelists and
all the hierarchy, \ owing, if he might be spared
a little longer, to leave off poaching, and
every other evil practice. His prayers
tiiiished, a thought occurred that by freeing
himself from the devil's back by a fall, he
might have some chance of escaping. He
was about to put this project into execution,
when, turning round, he espied a host of
fiends scampering after him. The sight
made him determine to hold fast to the devil,
thinking it was better to be under the control
of the master than in tlie power of his ser-
vants. The devil having carried him round
and round the field, at length approached the
Wharfe, and conveyed him safely across the
stream. Here he became perfectly insensible,
and, as he is said to have related the story,
had not the slightest remembrance of what
happened. When he recovered from his
stu])or, he found himself lying in the midst of
a pasture field ; instead of the roaiiiig of the
Styx, he heard the purling of the Wharfe ;
the only flame he beheld was the sun rising
over the eastern hills ; and the only fiend

26 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

near him was a small Scotch kyloe cow.
That cow explained the night's adventure, —
the animal, in order to shelter itself from the
cold, had lain down to rest close beside the
wall, and being suddenly startled by Bill's
leaping on to its back, had acted in the
manner described ; and what his heated
imagination magnified into fiends was only
the rest of the herd. It was not in the
nature of the man to keep his strange adven-
ture a secret. It became the talk of the
village for more than the proverbial nine days,
and many a hearty laugh was raised at Bill's
expense. The lads everlastingly pestered
him by calling out when he passed, " Cow-
Devil ! " ; and it seemed as if he was nevet
to hear the end of it. Fortunately, however,
a perfervid revival preacher happened to visit
the neighbourhood, and was so lucky as to
convert several of the people, among whom
was our hero, who, to use Burns's expression,
in his '"Address to the Deil," "took a
thought and mended." He accordingly not
only left off poaching, but gave up frequent-
ing the public house. He joined himself to
the Methodists, and attended camp meetings
In due course he became a class- leader, a
local, and at last a travelling preacher ; and
the feelings of reverence and respect with
which he came to be regarded flung into the
dim and distant background the memorv of
his nocturnal ride on the Highland Cow'.'j
back.

William Bhockie.

The First Anglo-Saxon Poet.

Much is said in these days of poets and
poetry. The fashion is to talk of our great
writers, living or recent ; to discuss their
merits and to analyze their productions. To
students is left the task or pleasure of diving
into the remote past. Almost exclusively they
possess a monopoly of the enjoyment accruing
to those who <lig deep into the wealth of
English literature produced in by -gone days.
Little is known of the various stag<^s through
wliich the art of poetry has passed in its
gradual development to that state of cultured
perfection to which it has attained in modern
times. The advance of civilization, and the
extension of the Cnmmercial spirit in these
islands, have all hut stifled an art which at
one time was a common acquisition of the
people. The opiidon expiessed by Lord
Macaulay is one with which we can lieartily
agree: — he says ''that as civilization ad-
vances, poetry almost necessarily declines."
Far back in the history of our country, and
long before the institution of written l.iii-
guage, there was a kind of " floating lit- ra-
ture" in this lanil, which was better known
to tlir- great bulk of the people than modern
literature is known to their modern proto-
types Anylliing that excited the imagination
of our forefathers was readily expressed in

28 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

the language of song. It was customary for
the people frequently to assemble themselves
together to listen to the breathings of their
travelling minstrels. The , common people
were in the habit of constantly expressing
themselves in impromptu song. At the
places of public resort, the public-house or
other place, it was the exception rather than
the rule to tind one who was not ready to
express himself or herself in this way. Any
exliibition of exceptional courage or great
daring was sure to secure for the hero a place
in the singing of the time. Emulation, was
inspired, and a sense of duty enforced in this
way, insomuch that men were willing to run
great risk and attempt great deeds; they
were willing to fight gloriously in battle, and
die for their country, knowing that their
names would be revered by their survivors
and posterity, and that they would be the
subject of song. Doubtless there were many
of these singers who from year to year and
generation to generation handed on their
songs ; each generation adding new matter.
But of this profusion but little comes
down to us ; that little, however, is
sufficient evidence to show of what
stuff our Saxon forefathers were made.
The earliest poetry of which we have any
authentic record is that of Ccedmon, and lor
this reason he is styled the first Anglo-Saxon
poet. Not. much is known of him. He is
surrounded by a halo of what appears to-day

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 29

very much like tradition, if not of supersti-
tion. Notwithstanding this, his name is
worth preserving, and his tlmnglits are worth
knowing, not only on account of the merit he
may have in himself, or for the glimpse of
bye-gone times which his poetiy gives us, hut
because he was a good man and a York-
shireman. I have said that in these early
days the exception was to find one uiigifted
with the power of song. Yet tra^litiou tells
us thatCagdmon, until very late in life, con-
sidered himself one of the exception. It was
a great grief to him that he was unable to
join with liis friends au'i companions in sing-
ing the praises of their heroes. Tliis inability
often led liira in soreness of heart to leave
the cheerful company and wander away to
hide himself and mourn over his defect. • He
was born and lived in a locality which was
full of nature's beauti(>s,and his daily vocation
brought him under the inspiring infliiei.ce of
nature in its wildest and grandest aspects.
He was a shepherd, we are told, and one can
well imagine that with the op})ortunities he
had he would frequently gaze with wondrous
eyes on the lofty heights, the rugged rocks,
the turbulent sea, and the star-sj'angled
heavens: his mind beintr lilled with thoughts
grand and marvellous, yet without the ability
to give them tongue. It is not unreasonable
to suppose that often in the, stilly night, as
he gazed on the heavens, his heart would go
out to the Creator for the gift of song. And

3© YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

at last the answer came. We are told by
Venerable Bede, that on one occasion Cajii-
mon formed one of a party ot frien<is
assembled at a house of one of their number.
They travelled from the country round, some
on foot, others on horseback and in caits.
The festivities were to last more than a day,
and in those unsettled times it was necessary
to keep careful watch over moveable ])ropeity
alive or dead. This watching was done in
turns. On this occasion, during the usual
entertainment, as the harp passed from hand
to hand, each contributing his quota to the
common enjoyment, Csedmon felt most keenly
his deficiency. As nearer approached the
instrument, he felt shame that where all could
do so well he could do nothing at all, so he
left the hall to bear his sorrow alone. In the
agony of his mental pain he threw himself on
the ground, and was soon relieved by " tii'ed
nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep." His
sleep was restful and pleasant, for he had a
sweet vision. One came to him and said,
" Csedmon sing." He replied, " I cannot
sing, and it was for this reason I left the
hall." But, answered his visitor, "You must
sing to me," and, yielding to the strange pres-
ence in the inspiiation of the moment, he
said, " What shall I sing 1 " He was told
" to sing the origin of creatures." Csedmon
then began to sing verses in praise of his
great Creator, "• Now we ought to praise the
author of the Heavenly Kingdom, the power

YORKSHIRE IX OLDEN TIMES. 3 1

of the Creator and His counsel, the deeds of
the Father of Glory : how He, though the
Eternal God, became the author of marvels ;
Omnipotent Guardian, who created for the
sons of men, first, heaven for their roof, and
then the earth." This is the sense thouirh
not the exact words of what he sang. It
must be admitted that for those rude ages,
and at a period so near to the introduction of
Christianity into this country, tliese are
wondrous sentiments. When Casdmon
awoke he was rejoiced to find himself })0s-
sessed of a new and marvellous power He
remembered the lines he had composed in his
sleep, and soon added others. This migljt be
and })robabIy was. only the springing into
activity of a power which had long been dor-
mant. Casdmon himself looked upon it as a
direct command from heaven. Tlie grandeur
of his subject matte.", and the superior
ability shown after such long silence,
seems to have impressed his friends with
a similar idea. He was living

in the neighbourhood of a monastery at
Whitby, presided over by the Abbess Hihla.
This pious lady was soon made acquainted
with the wonderful deveh^pement of the gift,
of song in Ctedmon, and he had an interview
with the lady, who tested his new found
power by relating to him portions of Scrip-
ture history, and asked him to change it into
peetry. Tiiis he speedily did, greatly to the
delight of all good people. AH were then

32 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

ready to believe that he had received a Di-
vine inspiration, and henceforth he was al-
lowed to devote his life and talents to the
service of his Creator. He took up his abode
in the religious house, and diligently and
prayerfully studied the Scriptures and im-
proved his gift. Here he lived a calm and
peaceful life, devoting the remainder of his
days to the glory of God. He left behind him
the sweet savour of a pious life and his words
were long remembered by his devoted suc-
cessors. The works he left behind him were
not numerous, though for that age a wonder-
ful performance. There exists in the Bod-
leian Library at Oxford, an MS., which the
celebrated Junius declared to be the work of
Caedmon, and was procured from Archbishop
Usher. It is not to be wondered at that the
authenticity of the composition shouid be
doubted by some writers ; but the balance of
evidence, both internal and external, is in fa-
vour of the contention of the mysterious Ju-
nius. I must leave the reader to look for
himself more deeply into the subject, if his
interest should lead him to desire more in-
formation. Mr Thorpe has furnished a valu-
able collection of Csedmon's compositions,
which is readily accessible to the student.
We adopt that gentleman's translations, and
shall give a few extracts. The first selection
is the very fine passage describing the love
of Adam and Eve:

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 33

In their glad hearts no sinful passions move—
Their bosoms glow with pure and ardent love ;
With youth and beauty clad, they shone so fair,
Well might they with the angelic host compare :
The Lord Himself the pair with joy surveyed,
And while He.blest, these were the words He said:
Teem now and wax : fill with your happy km
The all-green earth ; your reign forthwith begin :
To you the sea-waves shall service owe,
And all creation shall in reverence bow.
To you be subject all the horned band,
And the wild beasts submit to your command ;
All living things that seek on earth their prey
And all that swim along the huire whale's way—
These all shall you with humble fear obey

The dealings of the Almighty with the re-
bellious angels, and their expulsion from the
presence of the Most High, is thus de-
scribed : —

Shattered their vaults, their haughty threats

mu • 1 ■,. , [brought low,

iheir glory dimmed, to drear exile they go ;
No joyous laugh breaks loudly forth to tell
Of heartfelt joy ; in heh accursed they dwell.
Of pain and sorrow, now the woe they know.
Tormenting waves of darkness o'er them flow;
This, this, the meed of their rebellious sin.
Since they had thought the throne of God to win •
Then, as before, when these base wars did cease '
In heaven's high courts, midst all the blessed

mT. 1 . , [was peace;

The glories waxed and the Eternal Lord
Was by his faithful ministers adored.

_ Another passage which is deserving of no-
tice—

Satan discoursed, he who henceforth ruled hell

Spake sorrowing.

Gods angel erst he had shone white in heaven.

34 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Till his soul urged, and most of all its pride,
That of the Lord of hosts he should no more
Bend to the word.
About his heart his soultumultuously heaved hot

[pains of wrath
Without him.

Then 53aid he, Most unlike that this narrow place
To that which once we knew, high in heaven's

[realm,
Which my Lord gave me, though therein no more
For the Almighty we hold royalties.
Yet right hath He not done in striking us
Down to the fiery bottoms of hot hell.
Banished from heaven's kingdom, with decree
That He will set in it the race of man.
Worst of my sorrows this, that, wrought of earth
Adam shall sit in bliss on my strong tlfrone ;
Wliilst we these pangs endure, this grief in hell.
AVoe ! Woe ! Had I the power of my hands,
And for a season, for one winters space.
Night be without,' then with this host, I—
But iron binds me round ; this coil of chains
Eides me ; I rule no more— close bonds of Hell
Hem me their. prisoner.

There is traceable here an amount of art-
istic power which is evidence of some cul-
tured These poems were written about the
period 657-680. They were the product of
Csedmon's maturer years, and are deeply in-
teresting to us as exhibiting some of the
piety and poetical power of our Anglo-
Saxon forefathers.

John H. Leggott, F.E.H.S.

The Battle of Brunanburgh.

This famous battle was one of the most
sanguinary conflicts and the most decisive in
its results of the many that have occurred in
our island ; ranking in importance with
Hastings, Towton, Marston Moor, and
Bannockburn, Yet do we know but little of
its details, and strange to say, we do ot
even know where it was fought. It has
been sung in the Sagas of Norseland, and
mentioned by our own monkish chronicle'-s
in their Annals, but is so shrouded by the
mists of the distant past, that it has almost
become a myth. Scholars and Antiquaries
knew of it as the last great struggle of the
Angles and Danes of Northurabria for
separate and independent existence as a
kingdom in opposition to the efforts of the
Wessexian line of Anglican Kings to combine
the whole of the southern portion of Britain in
one undivided monarchy.

Egbert is reckoned as the first Saxo-
English King, but as far as Northumbria
was concerned, he could scarcely be con
sidered more than Bretwalda of the partially
uuiied Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, as although
he subdued the Northumbrians, he was
only able to keep the turbulent race, jealous
as they were of their liberties and in-

36 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

dependence, undei his sceptre in a species
vassalage, their line of Anglian, afterwards
of Danish Kijig continuing in succession, but
in a state of semi-independence and fre-
quently struggling to free tiiemselves from
their condition as tributory rulers, during the
reigns of Egbert's successors until Athel-
stone assumed the Anglican crown. He it
was who really became the first monarch of
South Britain or England in its entirety, and
this dignity he acquired by his great victory
ever the Northumbrians at the battle of
Bruuanburh.

The interval between Egbert and Athel-
stone, was in Northumbria a period of com-
plete anarchy, one succession of Danish in-
vasions ; conflicts between the Danes and the
Angles ; civil war between rival factions, the
devastation of lands ; burning of villages,
churches, and monasteries, murders and
massacres being matters of daily occurrence.
King succeeded King in I'apid succession,
sometimes Anglian, at others Danish, scarcely
oiie of whom died a natural death. Eanred
was reduced to vassalage by Egbert in 827,
after whom followed 3sl;erht and JElla, the
latter of whom was the murderer of iiagnar
Lodbrog, the Dane, in the dungeon of Creyke
Castle, which brought over his sons, Hinguar
and Hubba, to revenge his death, by whom

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 37

Osberbt and iEIla were slain in batfle, and
there followed a succession of Danish Kings,
the kingdom being' sometimes divided into
three or four portions, held by Danish rulers,
but the whole period was one of confusion,
fighting' and murder, which through the
absence of annalists is exceedingly obscure.

At length in 741, Anlaf, son of Sightric,
came to the throne, who, determining to
free himself from vassalage to the Saxon
King of England, proclaimed Northumbria
an independent kingdom and himself an abso-
lute sovereign. Hence he was continually at
war with the Saxons, with varied success,
being several times deposed, and as frequently
recovering' his throne to wage fresh wars
with the Saxons, eventuall3' flying to Ireland
to make preparations, on an enormous scale
to recover his kingdom, and confine the
Saxons to that portion of Knglaud which lay
south of the I lumber, he claiming 'ill the
territory northward to the Tweed, and east
and west from sea to sea.

He contracted an alliance with Cou-
stantine. King of the Grampians, and the
Kings of Dublin, North Wales, and Strath-
clyde, also with the King of Norway, who
undertook to send an enormous fleet up the
Humber, manned by a host of fearless Scan-
dinaviau warriors, the other kings f uiaishiog

38 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

contingents, numerous and well armed, and
it was to meet this formidable confederation
of forces that Athelstane marched northward,
encountering them at Brunanburh, and ob-
taining a complete and decisive victory ;
" slaying," as the Saxon Chronicle says, "five
kings and seven earls.''

From this time North nmbria ceased to be
akingdom, either independent or in vassalage,
and was henceforth, until the Norman Con-
quest, governed by Viceroy Earls, appointed
by the Kings of Saxon England.

The question arrises naturally — where was
this momentous battle fought? and a most
perplexing problem it is, which has never yet
been satisfactorily answered, although
several who have investigated the matter,
have, in their own opinions at least, positively
pnt their fingers on the site. Camden, one
of our earliest antiquaries, placed it in
Northumberland not far from the Castle of
Bamborough, and this has never been dis-
proved excepting by assertion. It is a
question that formerly did not seem to claim
much attention from historians, but in more
recent times, it has been deemed more worthy
of research, and has become a subject of
warm controversy among antiquaries. Some
of these have formed theories very wide of
the mark, notably those who claim to have

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

39

found the site at Bourn, in South Lincoln-
shire; at Burnley, in Lancashire, and in
Cheshire. A correspondent of the Gentle-
niaiis Magazine in 1832, assumes to have
found it Barrow-on-Humber, in Lincolnshii'e,
and adduces some coincidental, geographical
features, which might have some force but
for the apparent fact that the battle was
fought north of the Humber.

From the circumstances that Athelstaue
called at Beverley on his march, to implore
the aid of St John, and left his sword in
pledge that if victoiious he would redeem it
with princely donations, and thato/< Itis return
he called for his sword and granted the
famous charter commencing —

"Als fre mak I thee
As hert may think or e^h may see,"

■with sundry privileges and immunities to the
town, it seems that the site lay northward or
westward of that town, and that the battle
was fought in either Yorkshire, Durham, or
Northumberland.

There have been two theories recently put
forth— one by l\[r Todd of Hull, who places
it at Little VVeighton, near Beverley ; the
other by Mr lloklerness, of Dridield, who
feela assured that the locale of the battle was

40 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

at Battleburn, near Driffield. Botli p^entlemeri
support their assumptioDS by a series of most
plausible aro-umeiits, of a character that it
would be difficult to controvert. iStill, not-
withstanding- all these specious hypotheses
and, conjectures, ia lack of contemporary
evidence the problem remains unsolved.

Feedeeick Ross, F.R.H.S.

Old Customs at York.

Old customs, oh ! I love the sound,
However simple they may be ;

Whate'er with time hath sanction found
Is welcome, and is dear to me."

John Claee.

Shrove Tuesday.

In oklen time, on this day, tlie Minster
was open to all comers, and it was the
custom for all the apprentices, journeymen,
and others to ascend the towers, and ring
one of the bells which they termed The
Pancake Bell, an amusement which was
pretty well exercised. When Dr Lake came
to the Minster he was much scandalised at
this custom and its abuses, and resolved he
would break through it at once, although
the Dean and the other clergy endeavoured
to dissuade him from it. Lake, however,
was determined to prevent the desecration
of the Tilinster, and resolved to make the
experiment, for Avhicli he had liked to have
paid very dear, for it was near costing him
his life ; however he made such a combustion
and mutiny that York never remembered or
saw the like. He began by reproving the
rabble, then by taking steps for tlieir expul-
sion, when they assailed him Avith brutal
ferocity and would have torn him to pieces
if some of the more moderate had not inter-

42 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES,

posed and advised him to retire. " I have
laced death too often in the field," he replied
(alluding to his military experiences) " to
shrink from the danger of martyrdom in the
performance of my duty, but I should be
sorry if any of your lives were to be endan-
gered through your cruel and cowardly
attack on me. But leave the ground at your
bidding I will not." He was with difficulty
rescued, but continued, at the imminent peril
of his life, to reside in York till he had
convinced his ferocious adversaries that York
Minster was not to be converted into a place
of idle riot, and that the custom was one
more honoured in the breach than in the
observance. Dr Lake subsequently became
a Bishop, and was one of the seven who were
committed to the Tower in the reign of
James II.

ST. George's day.

Formerly on St. George's Field, now cut
through by the approach to the new bridge,
but then attached to the Guild House of St.
George, which stood near it, was celebrated
the festival of its patron saint. Here page-
ants were exhibited, and at their conclusion,
a sermon Avas preached from a pulpit to the
audience, who were sat on forms and benches
provided for the occasion.

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 43

At the present day. Englishmen are
reviving the ancient custom of keeping the
festival of their patron saint.

Not far from St. George's Field was kept
the now obsolete ducking stool brought
to the river side now and again for some
unfortunate woman, who had the reputation
of being a scold, and who was subjected to
the degrading punishment of being placed in
it and plunged three times into the river,
amidst the laughs and jeers of the lookers-on,
who assembled in large numbers at such
times.

Ascension Day

"Was, in by-gone days, devoted by the
authorities of each of the 24 parishes in York
to making their annual perambulation of the
parish boundaries. This " beating of the
bounds " was a great day, especially to the
young Yorker?, who followed in the wake of
the i)arish officials, and contrived to get a
large amount of fun at their expense. The lads
of All Saints' parish, North Street, provided
themselves with bundles of sedge, and while
the clerk was engaged in inscribing the
boundary at the specified places, they struck
liis le^s below the knee with their bundk^s.
The place nearest the clerk, or that which
gave the best chance of exercising this

44 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

popular prerogative, was eagerly contended
for.

The publication of maps, especially those
of tie Ordnance Survey, interfered with
the. custom, and in some of the parishes the
perambulation was replaced by parish dinners
on that day, but they have been abandoned,
St. John's parish being the last co surrender.

Corpus Christi Day.

The great event of the year in mediaeval
York was the celebration of the Festival of
Corpus Christi, the feast of the Blessed
Sacrament, which took place on the Thursday
after Trinity Sunday. It was accompanied
by the exhibition of pageant plays upon
religious subjects, produced by the several
trade companies, each producing a pageant.
The plays were enacted on portable stages,
placed on wheels, enabling the latter to be
drawn from place to place. They were decora-
ted with tapestry and painted cloths, depicting
the appropriate scenes, the necessary music
being contributed by the waits and minstrels.
The ancient streets being so narrow, it was
necessary that the citizens should be separated
into several audiences, thus performances
were going on simultaneously in twelve
different parts of the city. The machines
were kept on Toft Green, and the first

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 45

pageant was always played at the entrance
to the Priory of the Holy Trinity, in
Micklegate. This interesting thirteen century
gateway was demolished a few years ago, to
the regret of many citizens.

The day following, the Friday after Corpus
Christi day, the procession took place, which
was somewhat similar to the religious proces-
sions of the continent at the present time,
and was conducted with all pomp and
splendour. Those taking part in it assembled
at the gateway of the Priory of the Holy
Trinity, and, at the appointed hour, the
procession commenced, the parochial clergy,
in their surplices, leading. Then the Master
of the Guild followed, invested with a silken
cape, and attended by the six Keepers of the
Guild, carrying white wands. The costly
shrine of silver, gilt, and decorated with a
profusion of jewels, enclosing a vase of beryl
iu which the sacred elements were deposited,
was borne in the midst by the Chaplains of
the Guild. The clergy and singers followed
chanting the proper services, and the
procession was accompanied by a great display
of crosses, tapers, banners, and torches.
After the ecclesiastics came the Civic
Authorities, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and
other members of the Corporation, habited in
their robes, attended by the city officers and

46 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

others bearing lighted torches, followed by the
officers and members of the numerous trade
companies of the city, with their banners and
torches. The streets through which the
procession wended its way were crowded, the
houses being decorated with tapestry and
other hangings, and the road strewed with
rushes and flowers. From the Priory gates
it took its course to the Minster, where
a sermon was preached in the Chapter
House, at its conclusion the procession was
again formed, and proceeded to the Hospital
of St. Leonard, where the Holy Sacrament
was left.

St. Luke's Day

in York was formerly known as Whip-Dog-
Day, from the strange custom that the school
boys indulged in, of whipping all the dogs
seen in the streets on that day. The custom
is supposed to have originated from tha
following circumstance. In Pre-Reformation
times, a priest, whilst celebrating mass at this
Festival in York, accidentally dropped the
pix after consecration, which was immediately
snatched up and swallowed by a dog that
had been laid under the altar table. This
profanation caused the death of the dog, and
then the dog prosecution on this day began
in this city.

yorkshire in olden times. 47

• Lammas Fair

comrnenced the day before Old Lammas Day
by the ringing of the bell at St. Michael's
Church, Spurriergate, at 3 p.m., when, in the
Sheriffs' Court on Ousebridge, the Sheriffs of
York gave up their authority in the city to
the Lord Archbishop or his representative by
delivering to him their white rods of office.
During this Fair, the Sheriff's power of
arresting any person was suspended within the
city and suburbs, the Archbisliop's repre-
sentative only having authority. At 3 p.m.
the day after Old Lammas Day the fiiir was
concluded, and as the church bell rings the
Archbishop's Bailiff re-delivers to the
Sheriffs of York their white rods, and there-
with their jurisdiction. At this Fair the
Archbishop received the tolls on animals and
wares at the several gates of the city in
coming in and going out, and also kept a
Piepoudre Court, for determining any diffe-
rences that might have occurred during the
Fair, the jury being empannelled out of
AVistow, a town within the Archbishop's
Liberty.

MARTINMAS.

Next to the Corpus Christi procession, the
annual riding of the Sheriffs was the great
show. It usually took place on the

48 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Wednesday, eight days after Martinmas.
The city waits, in their scarlet liveries and
silver badges, led the way -playing martial
airs ' on their instruments through the
crowded narrow streets; one of the waits
was more conspicnous than the rest, he wore
on his head a red tattered cap, a badge of
great antiquity, its nse or origin being
unknown. Following the band were the
Sergeants-at-Mace, Attorneys, and other
Officers of the Sheriff's Court, on horseback,
and habited in their gowns, then came the
Sheriffs on horseback, apparalled in their
black gowns and velvet tippets, their horses
being handsomely clothed. Each Sheriff bore
in his hand a white wand, his badge of office,
whilst each servant leading the horses carried
a gilded truncheon. Then followed a large
concourse of country gentlemen, citi;:;ens, &c.,
on norseback numbering about four hundred.
The procession first rode up Micklegate into
the gateway of the Priory of the Holy
Trinity, where one of the Sergeants-at-Mace
made proclamation thus—" 0 Yes ! &c. We
command, on our liege Lord's behalf, the
King of England, whom God save and keep,
that the peace of the King l)e well kept and
maintained within this city and the suburbs
thereof by night and by day with all manner
of men, both great and small, in pain that

YOKKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 49

falls thereon. Also we command that no
man walk armed within the city by night or
by day except the officers assigned for
keeping the peace, in pain of forfeiting his
armour and his body to prison.

" Also we command that the bakers of the
city bake good bread, and that the brewers
of the city brew good ale.

*' Also we command that no man walk in
the city nor in the suburbs by uight witliout
light before him, i.e., from Pasche (Easter) to
Michaelmas after ten of the clock; and
from Michaelmas to Pasche, after nine of the
clock.

" Also we command that the lanes and
streets of the city be cleansed of all manner of
nuisance, that is of stocks of stones, of mid-
dings, and of all manner of filth on th® pain
that falls thereon.

" Also we command that no manner of men,
make any insurrection, congregation, or
assembly, within the city or suburbs, in
disturbance of the peace, nor in letting of
the execution of the common law, upon pain
of punishment, and all that he may forfeit to
the King.

'* Also that no common woman walk in the
street without a gray hood and a white wand
in her hand."

5© YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

At tlie conclusion of the Proclamntion, the
proces.-ion weiuKs its waj- tliioiigli tlic prin-
ci});!! sweets of the city, making the t^ame
])ioclainaiioii at tlie coiiieis of the street at
the M est side of Oiise Bri(i<:e, afier tliat ou
tlie corner of Castlegate and Ousepvte, then
at the corner of C(.ney Street and Stonegate,
near the Coininon Hall ; then airaiii at the
south gate of the Minstei-. After that they
rode to St Marygate Tower, .-umI ninde the
same indclaniation there. IJetnn ing tliey
rodethr' iii^h Pt'teri:ate, C^llieruiite. FossL'ate,
over the hridge into tlie VValmLfate. where
the prdchimalinii is again made; and. last!}',
tln-y retnrn into the Market Phice, in the
Pavement, where the same ceiemmiy being
I'ep ate<l, the Shejififs dt-pait to tlirir own
honses. In the evening the Slieiiff-^' Banquet
was liehl. u>ually at one of the imblic halls
in the cit\, at which mosi of the gcnllemeii
iu the proceshion were present.

The Twelve Days of Sanctuaky.

Ycole — Girthol, or tlie twelve days of
sanctuaty for all unthrifty folks coming to
the City during Christmas, was tlte most
remarkable of the old tustoms iu Yoik.

On St. Thomas's Day (the Apostle before
y oole), it was aucieatly the custom of the City

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 51

Sheriffs at the liearing of the c' urch bell of
All Hallows, Pavement, to attend the Mass
of St. Thoinas at the High Altar, and there
to offer at the Mass. The north door, where
the procession possibly emerged after the
Mass, possesses a beautiful early knocker,
and it is £ui){)Osed that it was used for the
purpose of sanctuary, that when a criminal,
fleeing from justice, was able to lay hold of
the knocker ho was safe from his jmi-sners.
From the church the ^heiiffs, with their
retinue, procee<led to the Pillory in the
Pavement, heie the Sergeants with their
brazen hoi'ns blew Yoole-liirllie, and made
Pioclamatidn. ''We comniaml tlnit the peace
of our Lord the Kuig be well kept, and mnin-
taiu'd by niglit and hy d;iy, &i:. ,"(is was used
in the [iniclamatiun of the biienfi's riding).

Also thati all manner of wh s.

thieves, dice })layers, and all other uiiilinfty
folk be welcome to the town, wliether they
come late or early, at, tlie reverence of the
high feast; of Yoole till the twelve days be
passed.

The Proclamation being duly made they
proceeded with the four sergeains to the
ancient Toll-Booth in Tlmisday Market (now
St. Sami'son's S((Uare), where w;i.s kept a
horn of brass beiouj^iug to cue of them and

52 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

blew Yoole-Girthol. The other three
Sheriff's Si-rgeants were each provided with
a lioni, and went to each of the four City
Bars and blew Yoole-Girthol.

The Sheriffs, their ladies and officers kept
the high feast of Yoole by official entertain-
ments. In 1839 tlie brazen horn kept at the
toll-booth, and which used to be transferred
by the City Sheriffs to their successors as a
s.vmbol of office, was presented by the then
Siieriffs to tlie Museum, where it may now
be seen in the Hospitium.

It was also the custom on St. Thomas's
Day for one of the Friars of St. Peter's to
ride through the city on horseback with his
face to the horse's tail, guiding himself by
holding a rope instead of a bridle in one
hand, whilst with the other he held a
shoulder of mutton, over his back and on his
breast hung a cake, whilst his face was
painted to resemble a Jew. The youths of
the city rode with him, crying and shouting
Youl, Youl, with the officers of the city
riding before and making proclamation.
This custom was said to commemorate the day
the city was betrayed into the hands of the
Conqueror by two Friars, and the get-up
was supposed to represent one of them. At
the dissolution of monasteries the custom

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN" TIMES. 53

was abandoned as far as the Friar was con-
cerned in it, but the young men used to
dress up one of their companions like the
Friar and call him Youl, and continued the
custom.

On Christmas Eve mistletoe was carried to
the high altar of the Minster, anil afterwards
proclamation was made of " a public and
universal libertj'-, pardon and freedom to all
sorts of inferior and even wicked people at
the gates of the city, towards the four quar-
ters of Heaven."

Christmas.

The City Waits, until within the last few
years, used to perambulate the streets on five
successive early Monday mornings immedi-
ately preceding Christmas, and after serenad-
ing the citizens with an ancient air, proceded
to salute the heads of each important house
by name — " Good morning, Mr Smith ! Good
morning, Mrs Smith ! good masters and
ladies all ! Past one o'clock and a fine
morning !" The following lines describe
the York waits at the beginning of the last
century —

In a winter's morninp;
Long before the dawning
Ere the cock did crow,
Or stars their light withdraw,

54 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Waked by a hornpipe pretty.

Played along York city,

By th' help o'er night's bottle,

Damon made this ditty.

In a winter's nio;ht,

By moon or lanthorn-light,

Through hail, rain, frost, or snow,

Their rounds the music go;

Clad each in frieze or blanket,

(For either Heaven be thanked !)

Lined with wine a quart,

Or ale a double tankard.

Burglars send away.

And bar-.L;uests dare not stay

Of claret snoring sots

Dream oer their pipes and pots,

Till their helpmates wake 'em

Hoping music "11 make 'em

Find our pleasant Cliff,

That plays the Eigadoon ;

Candles four in the pound.

Lead up the jolly round,

White cornet shrill i' the middle,

Marches, and merry fiddle;

Cortal with deep hum, hum,

Cries out " We come, we come."

Theorbo loudly answers, "Thrum,

" Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum !"

But their lingers frost nipt

So many notes are o'erslipt,

That you'd take sometimes

The Waits for Minster chimes;

And then to hear their music

Would make both me and you sick ;

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 55

And much more, too, to hear

A roopy fiddler call

With voice as Moll would cry
" Come, shrimps or cockles buy I
" Past three, fair, frosty morn 1
5' Good morrow, my masters all!"

In the year 1756, Jolm Camirlge, chief
musician to the Loiu Mayor and Corporation
of Yiirk. aii'i oiLrniiist <it' the Minster, c-un
posed, amongst other popular tunes for the
Cit}' Waits, a Grand Maroli on the occasion of
tlib I'ecepLion in York ottlin Prince of Wales,
afc'-rwards Kinic Geor";e the Fourth, The
City l);inil pla\e'i this tune .-igain and again
and it hecanie very popular. It v/as c-pe-
cially played in the Polonaise, an old
fa.shion^d cUnce, wlien the Prince hail the
Lady Mayoress f >r his partner. Some time
after, his Royal Highness seia a letter to the
Lord Mayor, saying that during the whole
of his siibst-quent journey the tune which he
hail lieurd played at York he had been
constantly whisiling. The Loiil Mayor
acquainted the composer of this, w'l.o gladly
sent a co|(y of liis march to the Prince, and
who, througli the Duk^i of Yoik gave it to
the Guards' b.in i, wlio have i-tdieved guard
lo its SI rain sinre, and which tune is the
well known " Duke of York's March."

56 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

In 1835, the City Waits, who numbered
eight, were abolished by the Municipal Ee-
form Act, and were no longer in Corpora-
tion employ ; having, however, received fixed
salaries and their liveries, a question arose
as to whether they were entitled to compen-
sation for loss of office, which by an appeal
to a High Court was established, and re-
sulted in each of them being awarded some
£8 odd annually.

Punishments.

Amongst the instruments of punishment
beyond the Pillory in the Pavement, and the
ducking stool near the river, there were fixed
amongst others in the city for minor offences
the capon call; the thew (a kind of moveable
stocks) ; the whipping cart, and the stocks ;
an example of the latter still remains at the
entrance to the burial ground of St. Law-
rence. For greater offences there was the
gallows on Knavesmire, known as the
Tyburn. The ghastly custom was carried
out of fixing the heads of traitors upon long
poles and placing th^^m on the summit of the
City gateways, especially Micklegate Bar.
The last occasion upon which this Bar was
disfigured was in the year 1746, when the
heads of two rebels were set up; after staying
there for above seven years, they were stolen

YORKSHIRl IN OLDIN TIMES. 57

during a dark night. The event created a
sensation, but a few months afterwards the
culprit was discovered, and at the Assizes
was sentenced to two years' imprisonment,'to
pay a fine of £5, and to And sureties for his
good behaviour for two years more.

In the olden times the city was lighted by
oil lamps, few in number, watchmen were
scarce, so that during the long evenings it
was necessary for small parties to be attended
by torch bearers, for whose convenience ex-
tinguishers hung at the sides of the doorway
for putting out the flambeaux when they
were no longer required. There yet remains
in Petergate the only example we have left
of a torch extinguisher. The sedan was a
favourite conveyance for a lady to be carried
over the then rough pavements, whilst for
longer journeys the flying coaches were uti-
lized, which often took a week to reach
London. Honour was not satisfied unless a
duel was resorted to, whilst amongst the old
amusements cock fighting and bull baiting
occuped a prominent position, the latter
being exhibited in Thursday Market (St.
Sampson's Square), in the centre of which
was formerly a large bull ring. Here were
also erected the hustings in election times
until the passing of the Ballot Act.

Gborge Benson.

Elizabethan Gleanings.

I am not aware how it maj' be in the pre-
sent (liiy, but it was the wont ot the former
rulers of this country to have drawn up for
them elaborate •' hoiisehohl hooks," wherein
it iiiiiiht be seen liow much the kind's break-
fast was to cost [)er diem, who was to serve
it, how ilie ro>ai servants were to be fed, and
wiial wages were to be paid to men of all
rauksjfroui the L )rd Ciiamheriaiii to tiie Clerk
of the Kitchen and the turnspit. Occasionally
these l)noks tor the re^idatioii of the ro\aI
household went into details of the very minut-
est description. Thus, it is presciibed in some
of the household books, which of the lower
servants .«;hail Ije entitled by way of per-
quisite, to the shank bones of legs of mutton
and the leavings of cold meat. To the
h' usehold book compiled for "the .spacious
days of great Elizabeth" was appeixied a
statement of the "annual expense, civil and
military," which, as it casts some light not
oidy on the scale of wages in those days
but on the relative importance of certain
strong places in the realm, it seems worth
while to look through t > see what bearing it
it may have upuu Old Yorkshire.

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. $9

Wlien Queen Elizabeth occnpieii the
tlirone (»*' Ei;ul;iii<l tlieii' w;is a Cuiuicil nf ilie
Noiili. ciiiisisLJiijr of ;i I, Old Presiiieiit with a
salary of £1,000. Thrre wei'o seven coun-
cillids with salaries of £50 a year each, ami a
secretary, who was paid £3.3 GsSil. Ihe odd
shilliiijrs and pence suggest that this secretary
must have i)eeii a lawyer. Eacli drstrict ol
Eiiuland h id its •' rei'eivers of the revenues of
the Crowi.," there being <iie receiver for
Yorkshire, with a salaiy of £M)0. with £70
for '• poitage," and a £l'0 allowance. '1 hi^se
revei.ne.s were, of course, mainly from the
cnstoni.s ; and I tind this entry as lo King-
stoii-upon-Huil : —

£ s. d.

Customer ; fee, 20 0 0

lieward ; 53 6 8

Comptroler; tee, 3 6 8

Two lawyers liere, evidently. No other
Yorkshire port finds mention under this
head. 'I'liere was a Surveyor of the Queen's
Lands in each of the Yorkshire Ridings, each
with a fee of £13 6s. 8d. Then tliere were
special officers for exceptional duties, as
•' Keceaveis for the hon(jr of Ponifrct, with
tlie lordship of Kniresliurgh, and the late
college, lamis and chauntiey land, York hire ;
fee £36 13b 4d." By au accideutal note I

6o YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

find that the receiver in this instance was
Richard Ramshare, who, if he had lived to
this day, wouhl probably have called himself
Ramshaw. There were also receivers for
Pickering and Tickhill, in Yorkshire, with
salaries of £5 each.

At Sandal Castle there was then an
" under captaine'' who was paid by the
Crown, his "fee per diem" being Is 4d. He
was permitted to keep a servant at a wage of
sixpence a day. In a table of " the number
of men appointed to be trayned up in every
shire throughout the realm, anno 1584," I
find these entries : —

Yorkshire 490

York and Kingstou-sit/)er-Hull 40
Beverlie ., 10

There were then "fugitive over the seas"
from Yorkshire, ''Thomas Clementes, gent.;
Margaret Clement, wido we; John Clement,
M.D. ; John Gryffen, and Richard Burton."

It will be seen that the contribution of
Yorkshire to the standing army, or train-
bands, was not large, but it was, neverthe-
less, larger than that of any other county, its
nearest competitor being Kent, with 430
men, Devon coming next with 400, The
gumma totalis was under 10,000, or, in exact
figures, 9,670.

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES, 6l

Whilst on this subject it will be interest-
ing to glance back for a moment to an earlier
reign. Tiie houseliold book of Edward III.
enables us to see what contributions York-
shire made to the navy of that able and
stormy-tempered king. To " the Northe
Flete" Hull contributed 16 '^shippes" and
4G6 mariners. York fitted out one small
ship, with nine mariners ; Grimsby (spelled
Grymesby), 11 shij)s, with 1 71 mariners, and
Scarborough one ship and 19 mariners. The
" some of the Northe Flete" was : — Shippes,
217 ; mariners. 4,521 ; the "some of all the
English Flete" being " shippes, 700 ;
mariners, 14,151."

Aaron Watson.

The Fight for the Hornsea
Fishery.

A Trial by Combat.

The first beams of the morning sun came
over the trees that fringed Hoi-nsea Mere as
briglitly six hundred yet»rs ago as tliey do to-
day, but very different, upon at least one occa-
sion, was the scene wliich they lit up. The
Mere, or Marr, as it was then stvled, was the
centre of attraction to a large coiicoutse of
people, and e.-peciaUy to one portion of its
border were the steps of the crowd bent.
For the most part the multitude was com-
p sed of strangers, who seemed to he of the
military order, though there was a goodly
nnniber of tne fartn-seivants and others of
the district, as well as the lords of the
neijiliboiirinfi; manors. \\ hate'er their station
or appeai'ance, however, one subject was the
theme of conversation, and that was the
combat which was to be, tought tliat day by
the side of the picturesque little lake. The
lake itself, or raiher the right of fishing
thti'ein, was tlie object of the fii:hr.. The
Abbot of Meaux chiimed the right of taking
tue fisli iu llie southeru part of the waters,

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 36

wliile the Abbot of St. Mary's Abbej% York,
asserted that tlie liulit was liis alone. Now
at a time when i'.i.st <iays ccmiM only be made
feast (lay.s by a plentiful supply ot tisli, such
a privilege was one not lightly to be fore-
gone; so eiijier woithy monk held out for
the coveted prescri|)tiiin for his respective
house; They had tried the matter by means
of parchment and pen without settling the
vexed qiiestioi , so at lenuth it had been
decided to try the \ii'tue ol sword and battle-
hammer, by strength of arm and skill of eye,
which the vain superstition of the age
imagined woidd be nnerringly guided by
Heaven in the cause of the ri^ht.

Well, this sunnner's day in the year
12G0, was the da}-^ appoint( d for the trial.
All was gaiety and miitli ; everyone was too
much accustomed to arms to think this a
set ions matter, and even the twelve champ-
ions (six for each of the Abbots.) grind}''
jol<e«l on the sacerdotal character of their
masters as lln-y doimed their bai)'el-sha[)e I
helmets, and put right the last buckle of
their padded leatlier armour, or ringeii mail,
and a(!juste<l the small caps or plate.s which
covert (1 tiieir joints. Ijeie, npoii palfieys of
beconnnu tlocilitv, wtiv nn tintiMl the rival
Abbots, each sunounded by no mean
letiuue of well-arined dependants. Theie

64 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

stood, or rode slowly about the place, the
knight who had been appointed marshall,
and with his heralds kept order, appointing
places of vantage to strangers to view the
fight. He took notice also that none raoved
the boundary of stakes ; these had been
fixed the day before by a mounted horseman
swimming his steed across the Mere to
decide what was the exact limit of right to
be exercised by the victorious Abbot, which-
ever he might happen to be. At last all
was ready ; in a wide ring the two groups of
warriors stood facing each other, and but
awaited the signal to begin the fray. Oh !
for the pen of some old chronicler of the an-
cient days to call up the forms of the stalwart
champions, to discourse to you glibly of
pourpoint and counterpoint, of gamhesons, and
poleyns and many other things which we, how-
ever, need perhaps not trouble much with
now ; let me briefly say that they were fully
armed in the panoply of their day, and that
it was, as nearly as may be, that of the
average appearance of the cross-legged
crusaders upon the tombs in our churches.
Each man had a shield, a pointless sword,
and either a pointed hammer, or a flail-like
mace. The six champions of Meaux (the
plaintifi's) had surcoats embroidered with a
cross, with birds in the angles 3 the others

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 65

had upon their surcoats what may have been
simply a large cross.

The herald's trumpet sounds. The mar-
shall has given the word to begin. The
combat has commenced, and every spectator
thrusts his chin eagerly over the shoulder of
the one in front, and with a beating pulse
feels all the high ecstatic pleasure of the field
echoed in his breast.

The two little forces rush swiftly at each
other like two herds of deer, and in a second
are in the heat of the strife. They meet ;
blows are delivered and parried — till down
with a crash falls groat Hubert, the best
champion of the Yorkists. He is up again,
— no, Brian of Meaux has struck his uplifted
shield, once, twice, thrice, till his arm is
bent, and he is prostrate once more.
Forward rush two others of York, bestride his
strugcrline: ficrure, and beat back his asailants,
and young Brian, with a plate picked off his
armour by Hubert's martel-de-fer, is bleeding
at the knee. Hubert rises, and the combat-
ants stand back, only to rush together again
a little to the right, where Gilbert and Ban,
both of the Meaux side, are attacking John
of the Ouse, who retreats as best he may.
Once again all the glittering swords are
scintillating in one confused anvil-striking;

66 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

lange and parry, feint and thrust, succeed
each other fast and thick, so that tlie eye
cannot see quickly enough to note all the
feats of skill and strength' displayed. The
burly Hubert throws his shield at the head
of one opponent, felling him to the ground
senseless, while William of Atwick, not to be
out-done, hurls his shield spinning to the
edge of the lists, and with his mace — a heavy
ball studded with spikes swinging by a chain
from a staff — rushes like a wdiirlwind clean
through the York champions, and two fall
with bruised mail and bleeding limbs before
he is seized in the arms of John of the Ouse,
and cast headlong at the feet of his friends.
Panting and bleeding the sixes face each
other again, when the trumpet sounds, and a
brief interval is allowed for rest and
the washing of wounds.

Again the clarion peals, again the champi-
ons mix in the fray, and once more the eyes
of the spectators are all agog with greedy
appreciation of the sight. The sun rises,
■ and the heat increases, yet bout succeeds
bout, with the scales of victory poised almost
equally for each party.

The noon is passed in more wary fight
and longer intervals of rest.

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 6^

The noon is gone by, and long shadows
trail slowly and silently across the lists ; the
combatants renerve themselves at each fresh
attack, and every incident of the morn
seems to be renewed, though now the war-
riors are bruised and battered, red with
blood where not washed with the streams
from their perspiring brows, and the blows
want some of the vigour of the early day.
The vesper bell of Nunkeeling Church is
-heard in a pause of the fight, and it seems
that the champions of the sword are as well
matched as those of the pen had been ; when
at the sound, feeling that the decisive hour
is come, the Yorkists, stung by the taunts of
some of the monks of Meaux who look on,
throw all their energy into one final effort.
Ban is hurled by a supreme effort of Hubert
clear out of the lists, and so is out of the fight
by the laws of combat, and the remaining five
arc unable to stem the torrent of blows which
come beating and rattling about their ears ;
shields already battered are broken, bruised
arms are beaten powerless, and two of the
Meaux champions lie in the dust from
grievous wounds, of which one of them
afterwards is to die. The others, after a brief
struggle, are thrown down, and the champions
of York have won !

68 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

The shouts of the partizans of the Abbot
of St. Mary rent the air, so that the voice of
the herald, proclaiming the fishery theirs,
was scarcely heard, while the discomfitted
Abbot of Meaux and his friends found a
hundred reasons why their side had failed.
However, they accepted the defeat as became
them, though it was said that more than
one serious encounter was the result of that
day's work. Thus the monks of Meaux
lost for ever the right of fishing in Hornsea
Mere, and the Abbey table had to be
supplied from more propitious waters.

T. TiNDALL WiLDRIDGE.

Folk Assemblies.

In England, for hundreds and hundreds of
years, it has been deemed one of the rights
of the people to publicly assemble for the
discussion of public questions, •without let or
hindrance. Though kings have tried to
suppress and abolish this right,it still lives and
flourishes bravely, and to-day, should any
common question agitate the public mind,
the mayor, or other chief person, summons a
town's meeting, for the consideration and
discussion of the matter.

In some of our large towns, Leeds, Glasgow,
&c., may be found Moot Halls, but our
subject deals chiefly with the legal and
judicial aflairs of our ancestors about a
thousand years ago, before these Halls were
established, and when the meetings were
held in the open ,air. The great difference
between the holding of a court now, and the
holding cf a folk moot in the days of the
Saxon and Dane has been brought about by
evolution. Altered circumstances have
broujrht about a different result. The in-
crease of the nation has been a potent factor
in the change. In the olden time, when the
population of the entire country was under

7© YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

two millions, one court, for general purposes,
was sufficient for a district, if it Avere held
two or three times a year. Now there are
special courts for special purposes. Avhich are
held, in some cases, every day. But, in the
main, all are modelled on the lines of, and
to a great extent governed, as Avere the
courts of our early English forefathers.

It was the boast of our Anglo-Saxon and
Scandinavian ancestors that justice was
brought to every man's door, by the estab-
lishment of courts for shires, hundreds, and
tithings. It has been usual to ascribe the
establishment of this system to Alfred,
rightly surnamed the Great, but it is certain
that counties and their government by alder-
men and sheriffs existed long before his time,
as they are mentioned in the laws of Ina,
some three hundred years his predecessor.
Hundreds are first mentioned under Edgar
(957-975), and tithings under Knut (1016-
1035).

In dealing with questions of the society of
so long ago it is necessary to know how the
people were classified. The whole free popu
lation of England under the rank of royalty
Avas divided into tAvo great classes, eorls
(earls) and ceorls (churls), that is noble and
yeomen ; and as the affairs of each tribe were

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 7 1

directed by the eldest (ealdorman, alderman)
this name, ealdorman, became synonymus
with chief, and was the principal Anglo-
Saxon title applied to any man in authority.
Under the Danish monarchs, the word jarl
fearlj became an ofBcial title applied to a
governor, and the word thane supplanted the
word eorl <^earl) as a designation of nobility.
Ilius we have an official class, aldermen and
earls, with whom the bishops ranked ; a
class of nobles, designated thanes, who were
landed proprietors, who were liable to
military service on horseback, and therefore
equal to knights ; and between the thane and
the serf or slave was the ceorl, churl, or free-
men, the basis of their society, and all below
freemen were mere cyphers in the community,
only so many head to feed and keep in sub-
jection.

Every freeman was registered in some
tithing or other. Indeed every man was
obliged by law to place himself under the
protection of some lord, failing which he
might be seized as a robber. Each man was
bound, or had to be " hour" or bondsman,
for the good conduct of the other inhabitants
of the tithing. Hence our word neighbour —
a " nigh" or " near pledge."

In the English tongue, the freeman alone,
was known as " the man" — " the churl" —

72 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

"the free-necked man" (whose long hair
floated over a neck that had never bent to
a lord) — " the weaponed nian" (who alone
bore sword and spear). His weapons were
the insignia of his freedom, and he alone
possessed the right of revenge or private
war, which was a great check npon lawless
outrage in that primitive society. The
punishment due for wrong-doing had to
spring from each man's personal action, and
every freeman was his own avenger for an
injury, either to himself, to his wife, to his
children, to his slaves, or to anything that
was his. But even thus early we can see
that there was a desire to modify and re-
strict this private revenge, by substituting
for it " blood-wite" or money compensation
for the injury done. The compensation was
assessed according to the injury inflicted,
and the rank of tlie injured one. But the
price of life or limb was not paid by the
wrong-doer to the wronged one, but by the
family or house of the wrong-doer to the
house or family of the wronged one. At a
later period, their kings imposed penalties,
besides compensation, on anyone who took
revenge before he had demanded legal re-
dress.

This scale ef money compensation could
not be drawn up without a conference of

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 73

freemen ; and thus was held a folk moot, on
the moot hill or at the foot of the sacred
tree round Avhich their homesteads clustered,
and where the whole community met to ad-
minister its own justice and frame its own
laws.

A government for each tribe was formed
on the model of their township government,
and indeed the government of the whole
country (when finally united under the rule
of one king) was modelled thus. For what
was their country to them but one vast home
and peopled by one immense family. Some
of their laws recognised this as a fact, that
an injury done to an individual was not done
to him alone, but to the commonwealth. We
still recognise this, especially if wrong is
done to an English citizen abroad.

This then was their model — a presiding
chief, the leading men proposing and debat-
ing, and all the freemen saying " Yea'' or
" Nay." Every freeman was a voter, and
had a right to attend carrying his weapons.
But the attendance at these moots were some-
times so poor (not in the Danelagh, where
the inhabitants had a natural liking for, and
were proud of, and took great interest in,
these folk meetings) ; but in Saxon England
that it had to be enforced by law. Such law

74 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

maintaining that tlie interests of the common-
wealth are paramount, and superior to all
private interests. Thus a quorum, or mini-
mum number was fixed, and summoned to
attend ; and Athelstan ordered punishment
to those who refused. Lapse of years and
diminishd interest practically limited it to
those we were summond.

We have noticed that the freeman attended
armed, but armed men when beaten at law,
were apt, in their excited and angry mood,
ana in spite of -heavy penalties on all brawl-
ing and breaking of the peace at these moots,
to fall back on their weapons; and unseemly
brawls and bloodshed finally caused the
abolition of the practice of attending with
weapons.

The penalty for even murmuring or stir-
ring at the Tynwald Meeting in the Isle of
Man was hanging and drawing. The people
had one chance of conducting themselves
with propriety. If they failed to do so then
no more opportunity was ofl'ered.

Like all idolaters, the Anglo Saxons and
Scandinavians were very superstitious and
were very fearful of witchcraft, hence all
their courts were held openly, in the open
air, sometimes on the banks of a river,
or in some place perhaps sacred in its

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 75

associations, and sometimes on anartificial
hill, according to the locality. If the hill
were artificial it was composed of earth
brought from all parts of the district in
which it was situated. Dotted up and
down the country, here and there, we still
find remains of these ancient meeting places ;
and doubtless more could be found, if
only this branch of antiquarian research
were well worked, for little has been done
in this direction save by a few zealous
antiquaries in a few counties. In this respect
even our Ordnance Survey Maps are mislead-
ing, until the true meaning of their
errors is known. Moot Hill is most
generally given as Moat Hill. In the
East Riding we have one unmistake-
able Moot Hill, one which bears its name
even to the present day. The moot hill for
Driffield Hundred is to be found at the north
end of Driffield, not far from the Scarbro'
Eoad. The street leading past it
is now Gibson Street, but once it was Mood
Hill, a corruption of Moot Hill. The name
is however preserved in Moot Hill Terrace, a
row of houses on the lower side of the grass
field in which the hill is situated. The hill
is in a good state of preservation, being well
rounded on the north-west side, and, having
been formed on a rather steep declivity, the
top is level, forming a little plateau. There

76 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

are two curved ascents, one on the north and
the other on the south side ; and the height
of the hill on the west side is between twenty
and thirty feet. Not far from the foot of
the hill runs a beck of clear water, and in the
grassy field across the stream are the remains
of the royal castle that once lifted its thick
massive walls above the forest which covered
this district. One of its owners, King Alfred of
Northumbria, is buried about a mile away in
Little Driffield Church ; and it was in this
castle, doubtless, that the laws were signed
and sealed, after their proclamation from the
Moot Hill.

John Nicholson.

Quaint Gleanings from the Parish

Register Chest of Kirkby

Wharfe.

From Queen Elizabeth to Queen Victoria
is a lengthy period, and lull of stirring inci-
dents in the history of England. Three cen-
turies separate them, yet for almost the
whole of those three centuries the registers
of my late retired rural parish" have been
carefully preserved, and the records of three
hundred years are all contained in one small
iron chest. Into what scanty room is com-
pressed the history of an entire parish of
seven hundred souls for all those years !
That chest seems fitly to represent the iron
hand of Time seizing and pressing in its
tight grasp the quickly succeeding genera-
tions. And many a moral may the minister
who is the guardian of such records gather
as from time to time he turns over those
yellow, closely-written pages. Though it is
his first and highest duty to make himself
acquainted with the living inhabitants of his
parish, and to minister to their bodily and
spiritual requirements, yet he soon feels a
curiosity to know something of those who

* Kirkby Wharfe.

78 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

have gone before — the ministers who have
preceded him, and the people amongst whom
they dwelt — now swept away like the autumn
leaves into the mournful desolation of the
past. And that Past is buried in the iron
register chest. Thither, therefore, he oft-
times resorts. He digs down into the ages
that are gone and brings to light the records
of those who have long been forgotten, and
whose very names would have perished from
the earth if they had not been preserved by
the careful pens of his predecessors. There
he may trace the baptisms, the marriages,
the funerals of successive generations
chronicled by successive ministers, — people
and pastor alike appearing for a little while
and then vanishing away. He notices the
change of handwriting, betokening the change
of minister. He observes it firm and bold
at first, as of one in the vigour of middle life,
and gradually he sees it become feeble and
faltering ere it altogether ceases, all in. the
space of a few pages. Then a new officiating
minister appears on the scene, and the funeral
of the preceding incumbent having been duly
registered, the confident hand of his successor
takes up the pen and pursues the chronicle
of life and death, soon in his turn to resign
it to a stranger. There are no books in the
minister's library more profitable for occa-
sional study than the parish registers. There

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 79

he learns how soon the people among whom
he labours will have passed away, like their
forefathers — how quickly he himself will have
to resign his office and his dwelling-place to
another ; and he girds himself up to do the
work of the. present. He desires to leave
behind him, if not in earthly registers, yet in
another " book of remembrance," kept not in
iron chests, but in a more secure and enduring
place where moth and rust corrupt not — the
lasting record of faithful labours done while
it was day.

But the registers are not altogether mourn-
ful, reminding us only of the sorrowful end
of weary life. The baptisms tell of the
gladness of motherhood triumphing over
pain, and the happy gathering of families
to the christening of the little one that has
long since grown old and grey. And the
register of marriages is a long record of
bright faces, and merry peals, and bounding
hearts ; and every separate signing of names
becomes, in the language of Tennyson —

" Mute symbol of a joyful morn,
To village eyes as yet unborn."

And scattered throughout the registers and
the other documents contained in the parish
chest there are little traits of character and
indications of feeling which reward the

8o YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

diligent investigator. There are few chests
from which there may not be culled some
illustrations of bygone customs and some
allusions to the history of our country which
are exceedingly interesting. The old parish
accounts, which were formerly drawn up by
the clergyman, and which are' often found
preserved along with the registers, abound in
curious facts and hints, throwing light upon
the past.

From these various ancient documents, as
now existing in the chest belonging to my
late parish, I propose giving a few extracts
which, with the accompanying comments,
may prove interesting illustrations of the
life of former generations, and may furnish
some usej'ul suggestions for the present day.
As my latest extract will refer to a period
now about a century past, and as the connec-
tion of a clergyman's family with the parish
in which he has officiated generally ceases
with his death, there will be no danger of
my hurting the feelings of any friends of the
departed vicars of my late parish, when I
now proceed to speak of the censorious vicar,
the domestic vicar, the ene'-getic vicar, the
methodical vicar, and the litigious vicar.

The censorious vicar comes upon the scene
in the year 1628 and signalizes his entrance

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 8 1

on the duties of his parish by three notices
in the registers reflecting on the conduct of
his immediate predecessor. Three times
over he pecords in Latin, "Through the
carelessness and negligence of the preceding
vicar all the names of persons baptzed —
married — buried — were omitted from the
year of our Lord 1623 up to the present
time. — Tho. Clarke." Now, no language
can be too strong to apply to such culpable
remissness in the discharge of a public trust,
but that language would come better from
the lips or the pen of any other than the
successor of him who had been guilty of the
grave offence. For a man "to dwell on the
faults of his predecessor in office shows at
least a want of proper humility. And it is
scarcely the part of a wise man thus to draw
the attention of the Avorld to his own
conduct, and to invite them to look for
instances, which may probably soon be found,
of his own fallibility. For the sake of their
oflBce it is better to throw a veil over the
shortcomings of those who have held it,
than by unnecessarily exposing their faults
to drag the office itself into the dust. Let
us speak tenderly of those who have gone
before us, even as we shall need the kindly
consideration of those who come after us.
" De mortuis nihil nisi bonum" is as much
the dictate of prudence as of charity.

82 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

This sentiment is singularly enforced in the
very instance of our censorious vicar. For
when he had passed away, and the parish
chest came into the hands of his successor,
what now is the state of the registers ?

* Kirkby Wharfe, Girmston, near Tadcaster,
Yorkshire.

Surely there will be no "carelessness or
negligence " visible in any part of them !
The " preceding vicar" will be found immacu-
late this time ! There will be no room for
censure now. Alas ! for the fallibility of the
virtuous and the infirmity of the strong !
For what do we read from the pen of the
next clergyman, in the register of baptisms ?
" Memorandum. That when Mr. Fra. Sher-
wood entered vicar he found the register
omitted till May, 1642, from the year above,
viz. 1639." In the register for marriages —
'^ Memorandum. That when I, Francis
Sherwood, entered vicar, I found the register
neglected from the year 1639 till the present
1648." And again there is a similar memo-
randum in the register of burials. Observe,
there is here only a notice of the fact,
without any reflection on the character of
the previous vicar. But how strange that
the man who commenced his duties with
such a flourish of self-sufficiency and
censoriousness, should at the close of them

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 83

be found as wanting as his faulty predecessor
in the discharge of his responsible office !
"Let not him that girdeth on his harness
boast himself as he that putteth it off."

But we pass on to tht" domestic vicar=
William Kaye, Master of Arts, who held the
living from 1668 to 1704. There is a curious
old account book belonging to this vicar,
which contains in his own handwriting all
the tithes he received for thirty-six years.
The separate items of payment as they
annually recur appear to have been for
" House, Easter due, kine, plough, fat beef,
fowls, bees, forge, orchard, wool, pigs, geese,
dovecote, kiln, sheep, lambs, servants." The
payments of one parishoner are given as an
example : —

Wm Pick. House M. Easter Due 8d. Kine 3s. 4d.
Plough Id. Geese and Turkeys 2s. 63. BeefSd.
Orchard 4s. Servants 2s. Total 13s. 7d.

"What endless trouble and ill-will such a
system of remuneration must have stirred up
between pastor and people ! How painful
it must have been for the unhappy parson !
How irritating to his parishioners ! He
could not take an evening stroll down a quiet
green lane without being suspected of a de-
sign to look after his shax'e of the apples and
plums in the adjoining orchard. He could
not make a call upon one of his farmers

84 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

without being supposed to be counting up
the geese and the turkeys. He could not walk
past a sheltered cottage without being
charged with casting an evil eye on the bee-
hives. He must have been often regarded
as the common enemy of his people, ever
lying in wait for their small profits, and
falling on the gardens and orchards like a
blight or a mildew ! Let us be thankful
that the rural society of the present day is
not torn asunder by such an unfortunate
system, but that by the commutation of
tithes, a fixed payment is settled on every
house and holding which the tenant regards
as ncufehing more than part of his rent.

But I have alluded here to this particular
titiie-book because, on its outer leaves, there
are some very interesting entries of another
kmd. By examining the registers, we find
that our domestic vicar was so unhappy as to
be left a widower in the year 1&80 : " Eli;i;a-
beth, wife of William Kaye, vicar of this
parish, buried Dec. 22, 1680." The care of
his family, consisting of a little girl of seven
(•'Bapt., 1673, Anna ffilia Gulielmi Kaye,
vie, paroch. Ober. 21"), and one son, seems
now to have fallen entirely on the vicar,
unassisted by any female friend or house-
keeper ; since from this date we actually find
the weekly washing accounts for himself and

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 85

his little daughter in his own handwriting
upon the blank pages of his tithe-book. For
example :

" Cloaths at washing, Jan, 9, 1681.

" 1 Shirt and Waistcoat, 6 Hank, 2 caps, 11
Bands, 3 Socks, 11 Cuffs."

" Jan. 30.— 2 shirts, 8 Bands, 2 Caps, 4 hank, 1
■wastcoate, 2 pare socks, 3 pr cuffs, 1 pr sheet and
pillovvbear."

" Jan. 30.— Nancy's Cloaths.— 2 sh : & 3 Apr : 2
night coifes & 3 ffrontlets, 2 bibs, 1 pr of Ruffles,
2 pr cuffs, 2 Tuckers, 1 hanli.''

Very touching is the enumeration of this
poor little motherless girl's neat Avardrobe,
so carefully worked for her by loving hands,
now still and cold in the grave ! We can
almost fancy we see her, Avalking by the side
of her fond father in his gown and bands to
church, dressed in her "ruffles and ffrontlets,
and tuckers, and cuffs" — at least one bright
sunny spot in the widower's wintry desola-
tion. Alas ! she was not left long to solace
him. Among the burials, two years after,
1683, appears the melaneholy notice of
Nancy's death :

" Anne, daughter of William Kaye, Clerke, by
Elizabeth his Wife, dyed of ye small Pox at
Yorke & was buried at Snt Helen's Church Sept.
11. 1683." (Probably she had gone to school at
York.)

How much sorrow is compressed into this
brief record ! How touching is the mention

86 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

of the dead mother along with the departed
child ! How sad that the dear little girl
should be buried so far from the quiet country
church where her mother lay, and near which
she herself had played in her happy infancy
— especially as the churchyard of St. Helen's,
York, has long ago been desecrated, and no iv
forms a paved square resounding all day long
with the traffic of the metropolis of the north !

Alas ! for her poor father ! " A stricken
man was he !'' However, he had still one
boy remaining. But he was soon to be
deprived even of him ; for, in the register
of burials of 1694, we find the following
entry :

•' Wm. son of Wm. Kaye, Gierke, dyed April
5th, being Easter Eve, and was buried April 7,
1694."

That is a sweet touch of faith and hope
very affecting and very reassuring — "being
Saster-Eve." It is not for us to sorrow as
those without hope, when our dear ones are
committed " earth to earth, ashes to ashes,
dust to dust/' since, in the words of the
Collect for Easter-even (which must have
comforted the good vicar's heart thatdarkday)
"through the grave and gate of death we
and they shall pass to our joyful resurrection
for His merits who died and was buried and
rose again for us." There was nothing left

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 87

to the poor vicar now but his parish and his
garden ; and we find in the tithe-book the
following interesting entry for 1698 :

" Ro : Addinell : paid to him for garden 10s ; 3
trees, 3s. 6d.— seede, Is.— Rose trees, Is.— in all,
10s. 6d."

So his leisure hours were occupied with
his fruit-trees and his flowers. Perhaps the
old-tashioned creeping rose-trees, with their
variegated petals, which may even yet be
seen in the vicarage garden, are descended
from the rose-trees which the old vicar
planted two centuries since to solace the
loneliness of his declining days.

There only remains one entry more — and
not the in vicar's handwriting — to wind up
the story of his life :

" 1704 Wm. Kaye, Clerk and Vicar of this Parish
— buried Jan. 6, 1704-5."

Before, however, passing on to the next
vicar, it will be interesting to give a speci-
men of the parish accounts during the time
of Mr. Kaye as kept by him ; —

The Churchwardings Accounts £ s, d.

for the year 16'J7 : —
To a Minister's Wife &seaven childn 0 10
To y« Prisoners in Yorlt Castle ... 0 1 0
To a man yt lost his corn & goods by

seabreak 0 0 6

0

4

0

0

0

6

0

8

0

0

0

6

0

0

6

0

0

2

0

1

0

0

0

2

88 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Spen Iwith our neighbouring minis-
ters wn they preach' d 0 2 6

For ringing on the day of thanks-
giving

For splicing Bell Ropes

For ringing flftof November

To a poor Minister

For ringing on New years day

T® two poor Scholars

To two men that lost all by seabreak

To a dumb man

To a poor man who had wife and
children and nothing to live on (1700) 0 0 2

The mention of several persons avIio lost
tkeir property " by seabreak," reminds us of
the constant encroachments of the sea on the
eastern coast of Yorkshire, by which whole
villages, with their churches and church-
yards, have been swept away ; and the tide
now rises and falls, and stately ships sail by,
where once the corn waved, and cottages
smiled in the sunshine, and congregations
gathered to the sound of the church-going
bell. On some of our maps we Still read
such melancholy notices as these : *' Here
stood Auburn, which was Avashed away by
the sea ; " " Hartburn, washed away ; "
" Hyde, washed away."

The Day of Thanksgiving, referred to
above, was probably for the Treaty of
Ryswick, Uctober 29th, 1697. when William
III. of England, and Louis XIV. of France,
and the other contending powers, agreed to

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 89

allow Europe to enjoy, for a brief space,
the blessings of peace. How thankful our
country felt for this respite from the burden
of war, may be gathered from the heartiness
with which the good people even of this
remote parish took to the ringing of their
bells, which must have been going most
of the day, if we may judge from the
quantity of ale consumed in the belfry,
and the shattered state of the ropes
when the rejoicings were over ! — the next
item in the accounts being " for splicing the
the bell-ropes." The ringers had now got
their hand in, and went to work with a will
on " the Fift of November," when their Pro-
testant feeling appears to have been even
more strongly indulged than their patriotic
thankfulness for the peace — at all events
twice as much ale was allowed for the day's
work ! But in those days, when King James
II. was still alive, and the exiled dynasty, and
with it the Eoman Catholic religion, might
possibly be restored, there must have been a
depth and reality in the rejoicings of the
fifth of November, which are wanting now ;
although the very same bells still ring every
year to celebrate the defeat of the " Popish
conspiracy." The fact, also, of the arrival
in England of King William III. on this
same day was yet fresh in the memories of the
people. So loyalty to the king", and zeal for

90 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

the Church, found a noisier utterance than
usual in the ringing of this Fifth of November,
It is pleasant to think that our good domestic
vicar was a staunch supporter of King Wil-
liam and the reformed Church of England.

His immediate successor, Mr Massey,
whom I have distinguished by the name of
the energetic vicar, held the living for only
six years. He appears to have been un-
married, and having no family cares, to have
devoted himself to Church improvements.
For the "new vicar," as he is called, had no
sooner come into residence, than he held a
meeting for the purpose of obtaining fresh
parish books and registers. The next year,
the " great bell " was mended ; the seats at
Church were re-arranged, and the bells were
hung with great rejoicings. A new surplice
was obtained, and greater decency was
secured in the services of the Church, by the
appointment of a dog-whipper! Two years
after the steeple was pointed, the roof having
previously been attended to. The following
year was signalized by a general " beauty-
fieing " of the fabric ; and in the last year of
our energetic vicar's life, the " church-
bridge " was restored.

The following extracts from the parish
accounts, as kept by Mr. Massey, oaunot fail

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 9 1

to interest the reader : —

1704.

The Accounts of Thomas Shilleto & Thomas
Stothard, Churchwardens for ye ear 1704 :—

£ s. d.

Impr for Bread & Wine at Whit-
sunday 00 09 02

To Robert Barker for Sheeps-
shanks for hanging ye Tiles ... 00 02 06

Spent wn Mr Massey came 1st to
Kirkby 00 02 00

Spent upon the new Vicar ... 00 01 00

Spent at a meeting abt ye Parish
books and Register 00 01 00

To James Wiggins for a spade &
shovel 00 03 00

Given ye Ringers upon ye Victory
at Hochstat in Bavaria ... ... 00 02 00

Spent on ye 5th of Novembr ... 00 02 06

For nales to mend ye Bier ... 00 00 02

1705.

Spent wn ye Great bell was
mended & wn ye others were bar-
gained to be repaired ... ••- 09 03 00

Paid for advice about yc seats in
ye church ...

Spent wn ye Bells were hung ...

Spent at ye Perambulation

Paid for a new surplice ...

Paid Rich : Richardson for whip-
ping ye dogs out of church... ... 00 03 00

1706.

To ye Dog Whipper ." ... 00 03 00
To ye Ringers on a day of Thanks-
giving . 00 03 00

Paid on a ringing day (Ramilies ?) 00 08 06

00

00

06

00

07

00

00

16

00

02

16

00

9* YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

1707.

Spent at ye Letting of ye Steeple
to be pointed ... ... qO 02 GO

Paid ye workmen for doing it by
agreement 03 00 00

i'aidiimgers on Thanksgiving day 00 01 06

1708.
Paid for Beautyfieing ye Church 08 00 00

1709.

Paid to Ringers Thanksgiving dav 00 02 06
Paid for mending the Church-
bridge going to Ulleskelf 00 02 06

1710.

Paid for Ale when strangers
preached ... ... ... 0 5 6

To 3 poor men one of wch came
when Mr Massey was buried ... 0 1 0

A few remarks may be appended to the
foregoing extracts.

The "sheepshanks" used for hanging the
tiles orslates on the roof of the church were
well suited for the purpose, being more dur-
able than wooden pins. Some of them were
actually found in their places when the
church was restored in 186u.

The special mention of the " Victory at
Hochstat in Bavaria," better known as the
battle of Blenheim, is highly interesting.
" It was a famous victory," and the sensation

YORKSHIRE IN OtDEN TIMES. 93

it created in the world extended even to this
omt-of-the-way villagCi which was not too far
off for the ripple of excitement to reach it,
and set the bells a ringing in proud exulta-
tion.

And other victories followed in such quick
succession that it was no wonder the bells
required repairing. Those were glorious
days for England, but they weighed rather
heavily on the country parishes, what with
the paying of the ringers, the splicing of the
ropes, and the mending of the bells, not to
mention the trifle they added to the National
debt 1

With regard to the payment made for the
" beautyfieing " of the church, we may be
allowed to question the appropriateness of the
term used, and even to indulge a wish that
our good vicar's energy had been expended
in other directions. If to build an unsightly
porch — with a horizontal beam of wood
instead of an arch — in front of a Norman
doorway, special care being taken to conceal
the ancient ornamentation, is to " beautyfie "
a church, then our active-minded vicar suc-
ceeded admirably in his purpose. And if to
pebble-dash the tower from top to bottom,
and to insert sash windows in the nave, and
to darken the interior with a heavy gallery,

94 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

are improvements in eccelesiastical architec-
ture, then a great mistake was committed
when all this " beautyfieing" was carefully
undone at our recent restoration.

That is a sad but pleasing entry about the
" poor man who came when Mr. Massey was
buried." In vain we wonder why and
whence he came. He must have come out of
real love, for the vicar was dead. Perhaps
he had met with some great kindness from
the departed minister, or received the living
Word from his lips, and wished to show his
gratitude by attending as a mourner at his
funeral. Our vicar could scarcely have shown
so much zeal for church improvements, with
out possessing a real desire to do his people
good. When we see the scaffolding we
expect also to see the edifice rising within.
Let us hope that the spiritual building was
helped forward by the labours of our ener-
getic vicar, and that the "poor man who
came when he was buried " was one of many
who received benefit from his ministry. It
is only such spiritual results of our labours
that bear the stamp of immortality.

But we must pass on to our methodical
vicar, Mr. Eichard Sugden, who held the
living from 1711 to 1727. The registers and
accounts were kept with a neatness and

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 95

exactness which are quite remarkable. His
handwriting is beautiful. He drew up a list
of the early vicars of the parish, which may-
still be seen at the end of one of the oldest
registers, with every little particular he could
glean respecting each of tliem. The parish
accounts were most accurately kept by him,
and contain many interesting and graphic
allusions. I proceed to give a few extracts : —

1711.

Gave to some who had lost their £ s. d.
estates (as they said) by seabreach, 6d;
to a fat man, 6d. ... ... .. 0 10

Gave to a ragged seaman, 2d ; to two
other seamen, 4d ; to some other sea-
men. Is. Sd 0 2 2

Paid to Thomas Pawson for awaken-
ing those who sleep in Church and
whipping dogs out of it ... ... 0 4 0

The last amusing entry reminds us of

George Herbert's remark, that " country

people are thick and heavy, and need a

mountain of fire to kindle them." But it

must have been dangerous in those days for

anyone to indulge in a nap at church, when

an official was appointed to go about with a

formidable whip in his hand, which he might

apply indiscriminately to intruding dogs or

drowsy parishioners.

1712. £ s. d,

Pd at several times for vermine
caught and destroyed ... ... 0 0 6

96 YORKSHIRE IN OLDKN TIMES.

To Mr Brown a wandring minister 0 10

Gave to a poor man who lost liis
^oods by Murrain ... ... ... 0 0 8

To two seamen one whereof had his
wife with him ... ..." ... 0 0 4

To the Ringers on July 7th, being
the Day of Thanksgiving for the Peace,
3s ; and expended on them & others on
the same day 6s 6d. more ; in all ... 0 9 6

However the country had rejoiced over
Marlborough's victories, they were more
thankful still for the peace which put an end
to them. The sum expended in this little
parish on the Day of Thanksgiving for the
peace which was ratified at Utrecht was
doubtless a true indication of the general
feeling of relief throughout the country at
the conclusion of the war.

It is interesting to notice the mention of
the murrain or cattle plague which raged in
the year 1712.

1714. £ s, d.

To the Ringers on the King's Coro-
nation day ... ... ... ... 0 3 0

1715. £ s. d.

For a fllmart's head, 2d ; to the
Ringers on Account of the Victory at
Preston, 3s. ... ... ... ... 0 3 2

Could anything be more matter-of-fact or
else more satirical than this singular entry ?
The head of a stoat and the head of the

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 97

Pretender were evidently of about equal
value in the eyes of our metliodical vicar ;
for the •• filmart's" death and the Pretender's
ruin, through the surrender of the rebels at
Preston, in Lancashire, are both dismissed
in a Single line, and the two items of ex-
pense for the "vermine " thus '"caught and
destroyed" summed up together. What did
it matter to the loyal vicar of Kirkhy how
many misguided gentlemen forfeited their
heads for him they deemed their king ?

" A hundred nailed
Like weasels to the gates of each wall'd town,"

would not ruffle the composure of his

methodical mind.

1716. £ s. d.

Paid for three Filmart's heads ... 0 0 6
To the glazier for mending the Church
windows shattered by the wind ... 0 4 6

1717.

To Mr Leedes's servt for two Otter's
heads 0 10

For a Badger's head to Edward
Hazelgrave ... ... ... ... 0 0 6

Filraarts, stoats, and weasels, may still be
found in sufficient abundance in tliis or any
parish, but otters have long ceased to ascend
the little streams, and badgers have been
extirpated by the progress of cultivation.
The appearance of a new Pretender would
scarcely create a greater sensation in the

98 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

parish than the sight of an otter or badger
now-a-days.

1719. ' £ s. d.

Spent on Easter day when the
Churchwardens din'd with Mr Sugden 0 10

1720.
Wood for Altar-Rails to Madam
Leedes ... ... ... ... 0 10 0

This was some curious old carved oak of
the Tudor period, Avhich still adorns the
church.

1722. £ s. d.

To Mr Sugden for scouring Church-
plate, transcribing Register and copy-
ing these accounts ... ... ...070

After this Mr. Sugden's handwriting ceases.
His death is thus minutely recorded : —

" Richard Sudgen, M.A.; Vicar of K. Wharfe &
Minister of Saxton dyde .January ye 19th between
the hours of 6 and 7 at night & was Buried
January ye 22nd 1727 by Mr Lowther."

There only now remains to be noticed the
litigious vicar, Eobert Kitching, who died in
1788, after a ministry of thirty-two years.
I have often conversed with an old par-
ishioner who remembered him, and described
him as a little, lame man, and a good
preacher. The parish accounts in his time
are slovenly and uninteresting, and we find
no allusions to passing historical events — no
echo, however faint, of the mighty strugglss
which convulsed the world ; but our choleric

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 99

vicar has left us in his private account-book
an animated description of a tithe trouble
which vexed his soul for several successsive
years. The loss of a small portion of the
vicarial tithes lay heavier on his heart than
the defection of the North American pro-
vinces. I give the following quotation as
characteristic of a state of feeling which was
probably not uncommon between different
portions of the society of that period : —

"Memorandum :— In the year 1781 was sown
about 6 acres of a dying weed called wold, or
woulds, in the west end of Kirby Moor, and
pull'd in July and August 1782. The Vicar,
Robt Kitching, being informed by the Growers
that it was a small or Vicarial Tithe, dischai'gecl
Faith Allen, Farmer of the Great Tithes, from
meddling with it ; notwithstanding whicli, she
ordered her son and servants to take it and lead
it by force, in spite of whatever he could say or
do, he having tithed it by order of the Growers;
but she took all the crop that grew upon two
lands into the Tithe Barn. This is a strange and
arbitrary way of proceeding !

" N.B. The Vicar proposed (as a disputed
point) to let it rest with the Growers, till deter-
mined by him and Mr. Geo. Finch Hatton, Lessee
of the " Great Tithes," and accordingly wrote
twice to Mr Hatton about it, but did not receive
any answer. This behaviour is like the rest, and
though a Member of Parliament, far from a
Gentlemanlike Behavi- : but he says, 'The Clergy
are the Pest of the Nation' !

"N.B. John Johnson of Iloyland, Mr Hatton's
ste vard, wrote me a very impertinent note upon
a scrap of paper, before I or he had wrote to his
Master :—(' Why do you not commence suit

lOO YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

against me? I ordered Allen to take the Tithe
of Woulds, &c.')

" N.B. On Wedy, Dec' 18tb, 1782, the Vicar gave
Will. Allen a pretty severe Lecture at Tadcaster
ab.out taking the Tithe of the Woulds in an ar-
bitrary manner, and spoiling the Vicarage of it
by violence : he said, ' Johnson order'd 'em to
take it.' — 'Suppose Johnson had order'd you to
steal my mare, who was to be hang'd for it?' —
'Johnson,' be said, 'had received a letter from
his Master, who said they had done right to take
it.' — 'Ay,' said 1, ' ri<j;ht or wrong ! only get pos-
session.'—' The Law is open,' said Allen. — 'Yes,
and if I was to have a trial for 30s., I should prove
myself as big a Fool as others are Kogues 1'

" N.B. Line and Rape I suppose have been
taken in the same arbitrary manner by Finch's
Family, Lessees of th^ Great Tithes only, belong-
ing to the Prebend of VVetwang, and thereby de-
prived the Vicarage of its right.

"14th August, 1782.— I wrote to Mr Hatton and
offered to refer it to Counsel, if it appeared
doubtful : he did not give any answer.

"2 November, 1782,— I wrote again and offered
to refer it to his own Honour, if he pleas'd to give
an impartial, unbiass'd opinion — he did not give
any answer.

"4th June, 1783.— I threatened to order a writt
for Faith Allen for taking the wold, and claim'd
the Titht'S of Rape, Line, Turnips, and Clover
seed of John Johnson, Steward to Mr Hatton,
and dischai'g'd 'em from meddling with 'em in
future.

" 21 June, 1783.— Mr Hatton sent me a Letter
that he was ready to defend any action I chose
to bring against him or any of his Tenants, and
that he liari ordered his Solicitor to retain the
Solicitor General, Mr Lee. This appears to be
intended to intimidate me from proceeding, and

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. lOI

is not the behaviour of a Gentleman."

How small a matter our poor vicar's
annoyance appears now ! How we smile at
his injured feelings, and wonder at his
trouble about this "dying weed called
wold !" It might help us to bear our daily
burden better, if we were sometimes to
consider what will be thouirht of it a
hundred years hence. I*Jay, many a care
that frets our minds to-day, will be for-
gotten by this time next year. '* Why
make we such ado V " Why do we not
rather take wrong?" Why do we so often
" kick against the pricks," and chafe and
struggle through *' the days of the years
of our pilgrimage 1 ''

But it is time to close the lid of our Parish
Register Chest, and to bring our discursive
chronicles to an end. During the nine
years I was the appointed guardian of these
ancient documents, they were so frequently
in my hands, that I became very familiar
with them. And in leaving the parish,
amidst many natural regrets for my dear
people, and beautiful Church, and cherished
home, and favourite haunts, I was not un-
conscious of a pang in surrendering to my
successor the care of my Parish Register
Chest.

Perhaps I may be permitted to conclude,

102 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

by quoting a Sonnet, published by me else-
where, as embodying in a few words the
leading sentiment of this paper :

On My Parish Register Chest.

In the scant compass of this iron chest
Lie the brief records of three hundred years,
The mute memorials of their smiles and tears ;

Here side by side ten p;enerations rest.

As with Time's iron hand together prest ;
A catalos^ue of names all that appears—
Faded their joys, forgotton are their fears.

And all the ea^er hopes they once possest.

With mournful mind I turn the yellow pages,
Read tlie dim notice of a long-past wedding-
How one was born, and over-leaf was buried ;

Thus swift and silent pass successive ages.
Like autumn-trees their leaves for ever

[shedding,
Which into vast Eternity are hurried.

Richard Wilton, M.A.

The "Wakefield Mysteries.

The great and increasing popularity ot the
religious drama in this country was very
distinctly shewn ahout the end of the thir-
teenth century, by the rise and rapid con-
solidation of those remarkable dramatic
cycles Avhich form so noteworthy a feature
in the early history of the English stage.
What is known as a dramatic cycle was made
up of a number of separate plays dealing
with the different episodes of sacred history,
but so welded together as to form, when
taken in continuity, a complete dramatic
presentation of the course of human destiny,
as it appeared to the mediaeval thinker.
The various cycles were constructed in slight-
ly different ways ; for the component pieces
varied in number, and sometimes one Bibli-
cal incident was taken, and sometimes an-
other, according to the taste and intentions
of each particular author. But all over Eng-
land, the main lines of argument everywhere
remained the same. The cycle commenced
W'th the creation of the world ; ran roughly
through the most remarkable facts of Jewish
story; dealt more particularly with the doings
and miracles of Christ ; with the trial, cruel-

104 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

fixion, and resurrection ; and closed with a
proplielic picture of the Last Judgment.
However they might differ in detail, the
various collections thus agreed in their
general tendencies ; and were, moreover, at
one in their teachings, and in the way in
which, according to the circumscribed views
of things then current, they did their best to

"Assert Eternal Providence,

And justify the ways of God to men."

We know that many of the most important
English towns, such as Chester, Coventry,
Newcastle, and York, had their own parti-
cular collections, and, several of these have
come down in manuscript to our own time,
and constitute some of the most valuable
literary heirlooms of the middle ages.
Among them, not the least important is the
set of plays anciently performed at " Merry
Wakefield," a few remarks concerning which
may prove of some interest^to our readers.

This coHection is generally known as the
Towneley or Widkirk collection. Neither
of these names is entirely satisfactory. The
former, indeeil, is applied with some show of
reason, as the manuscript containing the
plays was pie<ei'ved in the library of Towne-
ley Hall, in Lancashire; but the latter title,
which is still in common use, appears to
have arisen out of a pure mistake. In 1814

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 105

Francis Douce, the well-known antiquary,
following wliat seems to have been a ti-adi-
tion iu the Towneley family, stated tliat the
plays '• formerly belone;ed to tlie Abbey of
Widkirk, near Wakefield, in the County of
York." Furtlier study of the facts, however,
has led to the conclusion that there never
was any abbey, or even any place of the
name Widkirk (or Wildkirk, as the word
was sometimes written) in the neiuhbour-
hood of Wakefield, or, indeed, anywhere else
in England. Widkirk is probably nothing
more than a corrupted form of Woodkirk ;
by which name, on account of its little church
of wood, West Ardsley was frequently desig-
nated. There was at Woodkirk a cell of
Austin Friars, or Black Canons as they were
called from their peculiar dress, in depend-
ance upon the great house at Nostel, in the
deanery of Pontefract ;* and hero from an
early date there ha<l been peciodic gatherings
of a semi-religious, semi-commercial charac-
ter, such as we frequently read about in the
chronicles of tlie middle aojes. " King
Stephen," says Burton, ''granted the Canons
a charter for two annual fairs at this
place, tlie one to be held two days before,
and on the assumption of the blessed
Virgin Mary; the other two da3S before

* See John Burton's Monasticon Eboracense,
p. 300.

I06 YORKSHIRE IN OLDKN TIMES.

the Nativity of St. Mary, and on that
day."t With a praiseworthy desire for the
edification of the masses, and I am afraid
we must add, with an eye to interests of a
more personal and secular nature, the old
monks were everywhere accustomed, on the
occasion of such gatherings of the people,
to give specially elaborate performances of
religious plays — taking for their theme the
doings of the particular saint to which their
abbey was dedicated, or certain incidents of
more general religious history. At these
semi-annual ftiirs, therefore, instituted in
connection with the cell of Austin Friars at
Woodkirkjthe canons soon sought to improve
the occasion by introducing the performance
of religious mysteries, and in so doing were
only acting in accordance with the general
spirit of the age. Thus there grew up in
time the great cycle of plays to which we
here refer, and which, on the analogy fur-
nished by other similar collections, should
properly be called, not the Towneley or
Woodkirk, but the Wakefield Mysteries.

The manuscript in which these plays have
come down to our time is undated, but the
best authorities concur in assigning it to the
fifteenth century. But the date of the manu-
script does not, of course, fix the period at

t Burton, p. 309.

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 107

which the plays themselves were first per-
formed ; and it is believed that for the earliest
representations we may go back to the
beginning of the fourteenth century, if not
even earlier. That the Wakefield cycle long
remained popular is beyond all doubt. In-
deed, in one of the plays which deals with
the subject of St. John the Baptist, and which
is itself of later authorship than the greater
part of the contents of the collection, a
passage in honour of the Seven Sacra-
ments is scored out, and marked in the
margin as "corrycted and not played." This
of course clearly points to the fact that the
representations went on down to the very
period of the Eeformation.

The contents of the series form a most
interesting subject for study, for the various
plays are upon the whole lively and suffi-
ciently well written, and are not so stiff and
formal as most of those contained in the other
collections. Moreover, the purely dramatic
element is more than usually strong ; and
there are not wanting traces of a boisterous,
animal, north-country humour which, how-
ever strangely it may sometimes blend with
the more serious stuff of which the argument
is composed, is not without significance
when considered in connection with the
strong, and often grossly humorous side of

I08 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

the later English drama. These plays were
evidently from the very first prepared with
a special eye to the public before which they
were to be performed ; they were meant to
strike home to the common intelligence of
the unlettered masses — to be popular in the
fullest sense of the term. Hence their tone
is throughout that of coarse, everyday life ;
matching oddly, as we may sometimes think
with the solemn and sacred incidents which
they unfold, but doubtless endearing them in
no small measure to those who crowded
round the little wooden stage to wonder or
to laugh, as the case might be.

This popular intention, noticeable enough
throughout, is brought home to us particu-
larly by the fact that the plays are written
in Northern dialect, and are so full of pro-
vincial words, phrases, and idioms, tiiat they
form by no means easy reading for the
uninitiated Southron. Many of the expres-
sions which would puzzle a general student,
are still used in the same senses in the West
Riding of Yorkshire at the present day : a
fact which shows how tenacious of life vulgar
speech may often be, amid all the changes
and modifications to which language at large
is ever subject. In the study of these miracle
plays, and of all other similar productions of
the middle ages, it must ever be borne in

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I09

mind that tliey were composed and performed
at a time when reading and wiitiiig were
very rare accomplishments ; when even
barons and noblemen were getier.dly unable
to sign their names; when knowledge by the
great avenue of printed books was "quite
shut out;" and when, so far as the masses
■were concerned, oral instruction was alone
possible. Hence the place filled by such
reli-ious dramas as those in question, was
much larger than is sometimes supposed ;
and lience, also, the fact that the language
used in composition approached more nearly
to the vulgar every-day speech of the com-
mon people than might at first sight seem
fitting, considering the nature of the subjects
dealt with.

The representation of such a cycle as that
now under consideration lasted generally
from morning till night, and occasionally
extended over two or three days, or even
more. It must not, however, be supposed
that the whole work of such a performance
rested with one body of actors. The plays
were divided among the various town-guilds,
or companies, each guild taking up one
special portion of the cycle, and devoting all
its attention to that alone. As one company
finished that part of the performance which
had beea entrusted to its care, the company

no YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

next in order of rotation came forward to
take its place; and thus, scene by scene, the
whole cycle was played thi'ough. In the case
of several of these dramatic collections, we
know exactly by what companies the diffe-
rent plays were given, and sometimes we
find a singular appropriateness in the assign-
ment ; as, for instance, in the case of the
Flood-play in the Chester Mysteries, which
was represented by the water-drawers of
the Dee. Regarding the Wakefield collec-
tion, our information is not so complete,
as the names of only three of the guilds
— the Barkers (i.e., tannersj, the Glovers,
and the Fisher.s — have come down to us
in the manuscript. But we are perfectly
safe in arguing from the analogies furnished
by other cycles, and in stating that the
Wakefield plays, like those of other places,
were periodically performed by the trade
companies of the town.

The Wakefield cycle consists of thirty-two
plays, of which eight are taken from the Old
Testament, and twenty-four from the New.
In choice of subject, these pieces exhibit no
particular originality. The series, as usual,
leads otf with the Creation of the world,
after which we are presented with the death
of Abel, the Flood, the Sacrifice of Abraham,
the histories of Isaac and Jacob, the Pro-

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. Ill

cessus Prophetarwn^ or pageant of those who
had prophesied concerning Christ ; and the
tyranny and punishment of Pharoah. This
closes the Old Testament division, for we
spring at once from the crossing of the Eed.
Sea to the time when Csesar Augustus, sit-
ting in state upon his throne, is warned

"That'a qweyn * here, in this land.
Shall here a chyld I wene,

That shall be crowned Kyng lyfand, t

*****

These tythynges doth me teyne." +

With the usual disregard for chronological
accuracy, Ceesar, like other Pagan characters
in the old mysteries, swears frequently by
Mahomme, or Mohammed ; and, in general,
behaves himself like one of the mediteval
"payuims," or Saracens, with whom the Holy
Wars had made English people familiar. This
play, which opens the New Testament series,is
followed by the Annunciation^ the salutation
of Elizabeth, two pageants dealing with the
angels' visits to the watching shepherds, the

* i.e. "Woman ; Danish Qvinde (in which the d
is not pronounced). As applied indifierently to
any member of the female sex, this word has
almost gore out of use, but it still lingers in
the opprobrious "quean."

t i.e. Living. In these plays the present parti-
ciple often retains the old Anglo-Saxon termina-
tion—and.

t Teen— grief, sorrow. Tythynges in the samo
line is, of course, tidings.

112 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

offering of tht Magi, the flight of the Holy
Family into Egypt, the slaughter of the
Innocents (in which, again^ " nioste myghty
Mahomme" plays a considerable part), the
Purification ot the Virgin, the scene between
the boy Jesus and the doctors in the temple
at Jerusalem, and the story of John the
Baptist. Here we come to another large
gap. The teachings and actions of Christ
during the time of his public career, did not
furnish nearly such striking matter for dra-
matic treatment as the miraculous events
recorded concerning his birth, and the
terribly tragic scenes amid A^hich his brief
ministry was brought to a close. Passing
over in silence, therefore, the greater part of
his public life, the early dramatists came at
once to the •' beginning of the end ;" and
the plays which follow are all elaborated
with great minuteness of detail and almost
repulsive realism. There is the conspiracy
against Jesus, and his capture ; the trial, the
scourging, and the crucifixion, and the scene
in which the soldiers cast lots for the raiment
and quarrel about its distribution. Then we
have the release of the Spirits from Hell,
consequent upon Christ's triumphant descent,
the Resurrection, the journey to Emmaus,
the scepticism of Thomas, and the Ascension.
Finally we are presented with a symbolic re-
presentation of the Last Judgment, with

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I 13

Christ as Judge upon his throne, and his
foes subject at his feet. This, in the usual
way, was evidently intended to end the
cycle. In the Townley manuscript, however,
there are appended a play on the suliject of
Lazarus, and a speech of Judas when he
hangs himself. But these are clearly out of
sequence, and are without doubt the addi-
tions of a later hand.

Such, very briefly, are the contents of the
Wakefield cycle of mystery plays ; and, as I
have said, they differ but little in subject-
matter from the contents of similar collections
still extant. But in language, style, and
treatment, the Wakefield series is distin-
guished from others in many remarkable
ways ; and most of all by a dramatic rapidity
of movement, a vigour of dialogue, and a free
and homely realism, which contrast favourably
with the rigid conventionality of the religious
drama at large. The characters might bear
the names of the sacred personages whom
they were supposed to represent ; and they
miglit enact, one by one, the scenes of the
solemn tragedy, which, beginning with the
creation and ending with the consummation
of all things, took in the whole sweep of
human history so ftir as it was then under-
stood. But none the less were they in reality
the common figures of everyday life, drawn

114 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

from types, and embodying ideas, with which
the populace were perfectly at home. Even
the Divine Ruler of allthings, whom, without
thought ot evil, the old dramatists brought
in proper person on to the stage, was little
more than a mediceval bishop or pope ;
while Herod and Caesar were Saracens ;
Elizabeth, a good gossiping housewife;
and Cain, with his rough voice, coarse
language, and burly manners, nothing more
nor less than a Yorkshire ploughman of the
most familiar and least desirable type.
And it was inevitable that this should be so.
A religion drawn from an alien race — a
narrative made up of strange events and
reflecting foreign manners and mode of
thought— could have but little hold upon
the people at large if they had not been
coloured by every day thoughts and feelings.
Thus it was that one cannot help realising
that, though the characters belong to a
different nationality, and though the mystic
significance of the cycle separates it once
and for all from the ordinary routine of
common human existence, it is none the less
the spirit and the life of mediseval York-
shire, with its provincialisms of thought,
manner, expression, which breathe through
and inform the whole.

All this is most noticeable in those

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I15

portions of the series in which the liumorous
element has the freest play. In the scenes
between Cain and liis plough-boy, full
as they are of rough and boisterous fun,
there is little indeed to remind us that we
are treading on what is currently held as
sacred ground. Similarly when Noah
quarrels with his wife, who upbraids him in
no measured terms ; when the two have a
regular stand up tussle ; and when after tlie
ark is built, and she refuses to enter it, her
devoted husband beats her black and blue,
we cannot fail to see how thoroughly the
Biblical narrative is transformed and how
completely it takes the tone and manner of
rustic English life. More strikingly, how-
ever, is this change shown in the second of
the two plays dealing with the subject of
the shepherds. In this we lose sight alto-
gether of the Jewish hills, of the clear
eastern night, of the staid and solemn-visaged
Hebrews watching their Hocks in the starry
silence, and presently aroused from their
meditations by the glory of angelic visitants,
and the sounds of celestial song. In place of
all this, we have a rough-and-ready farce,
full of broad jokes and quaint allusions ;
redolent of English out-door life, and
reflecting with wonderful fidelity the daily
experiences of the Yorkshire common folk,
^uch a play may ill-satisfy our nineteenth

Il6 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

century cravings for " local-colouring," but
it is as interesting when taken as a picture
of contemporary manner, as it is valuable
when considered as a forerunner of the
humorous element of the great secular drama
of later times.

The Wakefield Mysteries have, I think,
received less attention than they deserve.
Other cycles, such as those of Coventry, and
Chester, have their special claims upon our
notice ; but in none of them does the free
heart-blood of the English people flow so
freely — in none of them does the voice of
mediaeval England speak out in such clear
and natural tones as in this northern col-
lection. For the inhabitants of "merry
Wakelield" — some among whom may be the
descendants of men and women who stood
laughing or wondering round the little stage
on which these performances were given —
these plays must indeed have a special
fascination. But their importance is far
from being merely local, Eegarded alike as
representing the most independent applica-
tion of dramatic treatment to sacred sub-
jects, and as furnishing the fullest prophecy
of that great burst of genius which was
by and by to culminate in Shakespeare, the
WakeiJold cycle is perhaps the most interest-

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I17

ing and valuable remnant we possess of the
great religious drama of the middle ages.

William Henry Hudson.

A Biographical Romance.

In the olden days the misfortunes of Wil-
liam Swan frequently formed the topic of
conversation amongst friends, who gathered
round the fireside in the homes on the wild
wolds of Yorkshire, where he spent some
years of his disappointed life. The full de-
tails of his career have been lost in the lapse
of time ; never, to our knowledge, have they
been committed to paper, but sufficient par-
ticulars may be brought together to prove
in his case the truth of the old saying that
" fact is stranger than fiction."

Nearly two centuries ago there was joy in
Benwell Hall, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, the
stately mansion of Richard Swan, Esq., the
occasion of the rejoicing being the birth of an
heir. The parents dreamed of a bright future
for their boy, and proudly predicted that he
would, in a worthy manner, perpetuate the
name and fame of Swan. The happy expec-
tations of boyhood were not to be realised,
for the young heir had barely reached the
age of nine years, when he was kidnapped
from his home, in order that another might
inherit the wealth that by kinship belonged
to him. He was quietly shipped on board

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. II9

the " New Britannia" brig, which formed part
of the squadron under command of the
famous Sir Cloudesley Shovel. His position
was that of a "powder monkey," and his
chief employment was to bring powder from
the magazine to the gunners during the
naval engagements. On the 22nd of October,
1707, the fleet was wrecked on the Scilly
Isles, owing to the Admiral mistaking the
rocks for the sea-coast. No less than eight
hundred brave men found a watery grave,
and several vessels were lost. Happily the
ship in which Swan sailed escaped destruc-
tion. Ill-fate, however, followed.in its wake,
for, shortly afterwards, it was captured by an
Algerine Corsair, and Swan was sold to the
Moors as a slave. Four weary years were
passed in Barbary. He gained his liberty
through the assistance of the Redeeming
Friars, a noble body of men who were the
means of freeing thousands of Christians
from captivity. Many benevolent persons
left large sums of money for redeeming their
fellow countrymen from bondage, and this
money was expended judiciously though the
agency of the Friars.

Swan had not the good fortune to reach
his home in safety. He was again taken
prisoner and sold once more into slavery,
this time to an English planter in South

I20 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Carolina. Here his sufferings were terrible.
He toiled with negroes from sunrise to sunset,
the slave-drivers keeping them busily at
work in the cotton and sugar plantations by
means of the lash. Managing to escape, he
landed, after an exile of twenty years, on his
native shore in 1726, and speedily made his
way to Newcastle-on-Tyne. His father's
footman, Thomas Chance, and his old nurse,
Mrs Gofton, identified him, and he at once
instituted a claim for the estate of his uncle,
Alderman Swan, Mayor of Hull, who had
died and left property yielding an income of
£20,000 a year. His efforts proved unsuccess-
ful, and the deep disappointment broke his
heart, his death occurring in 1736 at the
age of 38 years.

Swan had married a Yorkshire woman
called Jane Cole, of North Dalton, near
Driffield, by whom he had a son named
William. The widowed mother told her boy,
as soon as he was able to understand, that he
was the rightful heir to vast estates, and en-
couraged him to persevere to obtain them.
The melancholy fate of her husband was not
sufficient to crush her ardent spirit. A
lawyer at Driffield was consulted, and he ad-
vised that action be taken. He undertook
to conduct the case without payment until
the estates were obtained, beyond the sums

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 121

for correspondence, court fees, &c. The
man, however, drained the poor fellow of
every penny that he could procure, and both
mother and son denied themselves the
necessaries of life to keep up the constant
demands of the solicitor. Months and
years passed without getting any satisfaction.
Poor Mrs Swan at last felt the case to be
hopeless, and the anxious waiting with its
disappointing results preyed so on her mind,
that she fell into ill-health and died. Speak-
ing to her son before her death she said :
"Oh, William, let this horrid plea drop.
Don't pay that man any more money. I feel
that he would skin us both alive. They are
a bad set all these law men." William was
young, and like the majority of young
people, hope was firmly fixed in his nature.
He not only devoted all his money to law,
but bought a second-hand copy of " Black-
stone's Comraentaries," and spent all his
leisure time in studying it, until he was
completely master of the work. After the
death of his mother, he gave up house-keep-
ing and took lodgings with a widow, having
a daughter about twenty-four years of age.
They became interested in his case and lent
him money to carry on his suit. A rich
uncle had left the girl a few hundred pounds.
The young couple were brought into sym-
pathy with each other, which ripened into

122 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

mutual affection, and in a short time, with
the consent freely given of the mother, they
were married, Shortly after the wedding it
transpired that the attorney at DrifBeld had
been cheating his client, and instead of using
the hard earned money of William Swan to
gain his estates, he had spent it in dissipation,
and was a ruined man.

Swan proceeded to London, and consulted
another lawyer. This man advised an
action which swallowed up the wife's small
fortune, without getting them one step
nearer obtaining the estate. Trouble after
trouble came upon William. His heart was
almost crushed, but he continued the action
to the best of his ability. His wife begged
of him to leave law alone, and return to
their Yorkshire home to live by their
industry, fand give up all thoughts of the
property, but he could not act upon her good
advice. He got into debt and was com-
mitted to the Fleet prison on his inability to
pay. Here ill luck still followed him, for he
caught the jail fever. In his sickness his
devoted wife got permission to visit him,
and bring some delicacies to him. She, alas,
caught the fever, and in a few days died.
He recovered, but the death of his loving
helpmate was almost too much for him. She
had endured much for his sake, but never by

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 123

word or deed showed regret at becoming his
wife. Shortly afterwards a jail delivery
enabled hira to leave prison. His illness
rendered him so weak that he could hardly
walk. He obtained lodgings in an obscure
lane or alley near Chiswell-street, London,
and {afterwards was found dead in bed. It
is believed that his remains were buried in
a pauper's grave.

William Andrews, F.R.H.S.

Some Scraps and Shreds of
Yorkshire Superstition.

It has been truly remarked that this latter
decade of the Ninetceth Century is witness-
ing the rapid decline and fall of many old
customs and habits, and many strange beliefs,
ana the superstitions which have held their
ground from time immemorial. In almost
ev^ery nook and corner of our isle we stumble
upon some of these scraps and shreds of
" stubborn antiquity," but in no part of
England do we find the prevalence of strange
old world customs and usages more widely
spread, and at the same time more deeply
rooted, than in the historic county of York-
shire, particularly in those Divisions known
as the North and East Ridings. A close in-
spection of these various masses of supersti-
tion will reveal much that is legendary, and
mythical in their character, much that is
the outcome of the imagination, and still
more of what may certainly be termed
" Heathenism in Disguise." Some breathe
a deep religious feeling, others again are full
of light and peaceful fancy, while a third
class, and by far the most numerous, are

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. Xi^

gross, vulgar, and even cruel. During the
past ten years much interest has been evinced
in these studies, and the establishment of a
Society for systematically collecting and
classifying the remains of our folk-lore,
satisfactorily proves that great importance is
attached to the subject. We propose within
the limits of this short article, bringing under
the notice of our readers a few of the many
superstitions pertahiing to Yorkshire, which
the ruthless hand of old Father Time has
hitherto been prevented from consigning to
* the limbo vast and wide ' of oblivion.

To begin with, let us glance for a while at
Marriages, and with this stage of human
existence what a vast store of superstition is
bound up ! In the East Riding we are told
when a bride arrives at her father's door a
plate of cake is always flung from an upper
window upon the crowd beneath. ]\Iucli
importance is attached to the fate which
attends this plate ; the greater number of
pieces it breaks into, the greater will be the
bride's happiness, but should the plate fall to
the ground unbroken it forebodes misfortune.
Formerly when a wedding was solemnized
in the Yorkshire Dales, the friends of the
bridegroom were accustomed to dance round
the bride, shouting and firing volleys from
guns which th^y cariied with them. At

126 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Guisborough in Cleveland, it was the prac-
tice to fire giuis over the heads of the newly
married couple all the way home from
church. In the same village it was custom-
ary for the bridegroom to present a handful
of money, together with the wedding ring to
the parson, who, out of this sum, took his fees
and then returned the overplus. It is
related that in a certain village in York-
shire, the marriage ceremony was once per-
formed by a strange clergyman from the
South of England, who, at the conclusion of
the _ service, was much astonished at
finding the party keeping together as if
waiting for something to come. "What
are you waiting for?" he enquired at
length. "Please, sir," was the honest
bridegroom's reply, "Ye have no kissed
Molly." It was afterwards explained that
it was the privilege of the parson who tied
the matrimonial knot, to "salute the bride"
with a kiss. There is another old wedding
usage confined to Yorkshire. We refer to
tne singular custom of pouring a kettle of
boiling water over the doorstep directly the
bride has left the paternal roof; the old
wives saying that before the step is dry
another marriage will be agreed upon. The
ancient custom of throwing an old shoe after
the wedding party, called by the peasantry
in many remote districts " trashing," is

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 1 27

believed to propitiate success, Henderson,
the indefatigable antiquary, informs us that
the "grand finale" of a Yorkshire wedding
should take the form of a race for a ribbon.
In Cleveland the ribbon is given by the
bridegroom, as he leaves the church, and
then all who feel so inclined join in the
general race for it in sight of the house
where the wedding feast is to be held. All
the racers, winner and losers alike, are each
entitled to a glass of wine, and accordingly
as soon as the race is over, they do not fail
to present themselves at the house and
clamour for their reward.

Yorkshire has a very peculiar way of
ascertaining who will be summoned from
this world. Those wlio are anxious for in-
formation concerning the death of their
fellow parishioners keep watch in the old
church porch on St, Mark's Eve, April 25th,
for an hour on each side of midnight, for
three years in succession. In the third year
it is believed that the watchers behold the
ghosts of those doomed to die within the year
passing " in grim array " one by one into
the church. Should the watcher himself, by
any chance whatever, fall asleep during his
midnight vigil, he will certainly meet with
an untimely end, A story is told of an old
woman at Scarborough, who kept St. Mark's

128 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Eve in the porch of St. Mary's Church in
that town during the closing years of last
century. Figure after figure, it is said,
glided into the Church, .each one turning
round to her as it went in, so that she was
able to recognise their familiar faces. The
last figure, however, turned and gazed
steadfastly at her ; then she knew herself,
screamed aloud, and fell senseless to the
ground. The neighbours discovered her in
the Church porch the following morning,
and carried her home, but she did not sur-
vive the shock. An old inhabitant of Fish-
lake, in the West Hiding, was in the habit
of regularly keeping St. Mark's vigils, and
consequently became in course of time an
object of great dread to his neighbours.
Sextons vreve even known to keep these
vigils in order, so it was said, to count
the gains of the coming year. Another
curious mode of divining into the fu-
ture, formerly much resorted to in Y^ork-
shire, was that known as "chaff rid-
dling," and consisted of throwing the
barn dooi's open at midnight, and procuring
a "riddle" and chaff. This done, those
Avishing to unlock the secrets of the future
went into the barn, and in turn commenced
the process of "riddling," If the riddler
himself was destined to die within that year,
he saw two persons passing by the open

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES, 1 29

barn doors carrying a coffin, but if not so fated
he beheld nothing. A contributor of " Kotes
and Queries " tells us that once being on a visit
at a ^dllage in Yorkshire, he was much amused
one evening to find the servants of the house
excusing themselves for being out of the way
when the bell rung, on the plea that they had
been " hailing the first new moon of the new
year." The mysterious salutation was effected
by means of a looking-glass, in which the first
sight of the moon was to be had, and the object
to be gained was the important secret as to how
many years would elapse before the marriage
of the observers. If one moon was seen in
the glass, one year ; if two, two years ; and
so on. In the case in question, the maid and
the boy only saw one moon a-piece. In this
county the dog has always been held as an
object of superstitious regard. Formerly, a
custom existed in the seaport of Hull of
whipping all the dogs that were found
running about the streets on the 10th of
October, and so common was this practice at
one time that every little Street Arab
considered it his bouuden duty to prepare a
whip for any unlucky dog that might be
seen wandering in the streets on that day.
A correspondent of " Notes and Queries "
says that tradition assigns the following
origin to the custom : — Previous to the
suppression of the monasteries in Hull, it

130 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

was customary for the monks to provide
liberally for the poor and wayfarers who
visited the fair lield annually on October
11th. Once, while the good brothers were
making the necessary preparations on the
day previous to the fair, a dog strolled into
the larder, and on leaving snatched up a
piece of meat and made off with it. The
cooks instantly sounded the alarm, and when
the dog got into the street, he was pursued
by the hungry expectants of the charity of
the mooks, who were waiting outside the
gates, and made to give up the stolen joint.
After this occurrence, whenever a dog
ventured to show his face during the annual
feast preparations, he was invariably beaten
off. In days gone by, a similar custom was
observed at York, on St. Luke's Day, which
from this circumstance came to be popularly
designated " Whip-Dog-Day." Tradition
asserts that centuries since as a priest was
celebrating mass on St. Luke's festival, in a
churcli at York, he accidentally dropped the
host after consecration, which was instantly
swallowed up by a dog couched under the
altar. This act of profanation caused the
dog's death, and inaugurated a persecution
which was afterwards kept up ou the
anniversary of the day. A common Yorkshire
superstition attaching to the ass is that the
marks on its shoulders were given as

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 131

everlasting memorials that our Saviour rode
upon the animal. In the North Riding,
according to Brand who mentions it in his
"Popular Antiquities," these marks were in
consequence of Baalam's striking it, and as a
reproof to him and memento of his conduct.

Passing on now to the subject of " times
and seasons," we shall find them marked in
Yorkshire by many time-honoured customs.
On Christmas Eve, for instance, in the West
Riding it was formerly customary for children
to carry from house to house figures of the
Virgin and child in what were called "milly
boxes," a corruption of the words, "My
Lady," The boxes were filled with spice,
oranges, and sugar, and the custom itself
was termed " going a wassailing." Later in
the evening the streets of many towns in the
West Riding echoed with the old Christmas
carol, '• Christians awake, salute the happy
morn," the singers, who were dressed in the
most fanciful attire, being called "mummers."
Throughout the district of Cleveland we are
informed these mummers were accustomed
te carry about with them a "vessel " cup,
more properly called a " wassail cup,"
together with the figures of the Virgin and
child already alhided to, and decked out with
such ornaments as they were able to collect.
To send them away without any remuneration
whatever was believed to forfeit all the good

132 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

luck for the whole year. No meat was at
one time eatea in the same district on
Christmas Eve, doubtless because it was one
of the fasts of the Church. ' The supper there
consisted of fruit tarts and furmety, or
wheat boiled in milk, with spice and sugar.
Towards the close of supper time the yule
cake and cheese were cut and partaken of,
while the " good man " of the house usually
tapped a fresh cask of ale. At Horbury,
near Wakefield, and at Dewsbury, we have
been informed that the " devil's knell " was
rung on Christmas Eve. This " knell "
consisted of a hundred strokes in succession,
after which a pause ensued, followed by nine
strokes. Throughout Cleveland the " Yule-
tide log" or "clog" and "yule candles"
were duly burnt on Christmas Eve, the
village carpenter generally supplying his
customers with the first-named, the grocer
with the latter. It was considered very
unlucky to light either log or candle before
the proper hour had arrived. Strange to
say, in this part of Yorkshire, " Christmas
boxes " were very uncommon. Among the
Yorkshire peasantry the feast ot the New
Year was observed with more than mere
passing notice. The first person who entered
a house on New Year's Day was called
" First foot," and was considered to influence
the fate of the family, especially the head,

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 1 33

for the whole year. New Year's Day in
Yorkshire, and especially in Cleveland, was
regarded as the time for making presents.
At this period it was customary for poor
widows to visit from house to house, begging
for gifts. A similar custom we are told still
prevails in theWest Riding, where the widows
ask and commonly receive at the farmers|houses
a small measure of wheat. St. Stephen's Day
was once usually commemorated by hunting
and shooting, under the belief that the game
laws were not in force upon that particular day.
The good old custom of hanging up a stocking
for the receipt of Christmas presents, has not
yet died out in Yorkshire. Throughout the
county, and formerly all over England, the
various towns and villages were visited at
Christmas time by " mummers," attired in
garments of various shapes and sizes, with
blackened faces or masks, and usually accom-
panied by the wooden image of a white horse.
The Rev. S. Baring Gould, writing in 1866,
says : " At Wakefield, aud at other places, the
mummers enter a house, and if it be in a foul
state, they proceed to sweep the hearth, and
clean the kitchen-range, humming all the time
mum-m-m." At Horbury they do no sweep-
ing now, though in olden times they used to
practise it. As far as I can judge, there is
generally one man in sailor's dress, the rest
being women, or rather men in women's

134 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

dress, but this is not universal. It is record-
ed by Hendei'son that in his day one of the
commonest iN e\v Year's greetings to be met
with in Cleveland was as follows : —

" I wish you a merry Christmas,

And a happy New Year ;
A pantry full of roast beef,

And a barrel full of beer."

He adds that the lads of that district con-
stantly called it through the keyholes of their
neighbour's doors on New Year's morning ;
and also that it was recited by the children
in the West Riding, when they made their
rounds soliciting New Year's gifts. Ingledew
informs us in his "Ballads and Songs of York-
shire," that " Hagmena" songs were formerly
sung about this time throughout the North of
England generally. He gives a fragrant of
that in use at Richmond, in Yorkshire: —

'To-night it is the New Year's night, to-morrow

is the day.
And we are come for our right and our say ;
As we used to do in old King Harry's day.
Sing fellows, sing Hagman heigh.'

Shrove Tuesday, until within recent years,
continued to be marked in the villages of the
West Riding by men and Avomen playing the
game of " battledore and shuttlefeathers" in
the streets. Passing on to the observance of
Good Friday, it may be mentioned that the
incumbent of Fishlake, a village in the
South-east of Yorkshire, writing in 1865,

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 135

mentions that in that village, at eight o'clock

on Good Friday morning, instead of the

usual bell being run<? as on Sundays and

holy days to give notice of Morning Service,

the great bell was solemnly tolled as for a death

or funeral. The rector of a parish in the

North Eiding stated that great care is there

taken not to disturb the earth iu any way on

Good Friday, and that it was also considered

impious to use either spade, harrow, or

plough. The superstition that the sun

dances at its rising on the morning of Easter

Day peeps out in many parts of Yorkshire ;

and at one time of day the maidens regularly

got up to look for the Lamb and flag in the

midst of the sun's disc. Harvest festivities

are common to all the Northern districts,

and spring from a grateful sense of the

reaper's services at a season of great anxiety.

The Yorkshire custom is that when on any

farm the harvest is over, one of the reapers

should mount a wall or bank, and proclaim

its successful termination thus : —

" Blest be the day when Christ was born,

We've gotten mell of ( 's) corn ;

Weel bull and better shorn,

Huzza, Huzza, Huzza."

— all present then being expected to join in
the general shout. In Cleveland, we believe,
what is known as the harvest " mell supper"
is still kept up, though with far less ceremony
than formerly. On forking the last

136 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

sheaf in the harvest field the reapers usually
shout in chorus these words : —

" Weel bun and better shorn,

Is Master ( 's) corn ;

We hev her, we hev her,

As fast as a feather,

Hip, hip, hurrah."

We will bring our remarks to a close with a
brief notice of St Agnes Day — which according
to a modern writer on the subject, was once
practised throughout Yorkshire in the follow-
ing manner:— "Two young girls, each de-
sirous to dream of their future husbands, must
abstain through the whole of St. Agnes Eve
from eating, drinking, or speaking, and must
avoid even touching their lips with their
fingers. At night they are to make together
their " dumb cake," so called from the rigid
silence with which its manufacture is attended.
The ingredients might be supplied in equal
proportions by their friends, who might also
take equal shares in the baking and turning
of the cake, and in drawing it out of the oven.
The mystic viand must next be divided into
two equal portions, and each girl, taking her
share, carries it upstairs, walking backwards
all the time, and finally eats it and retires to
rest. A damsel who duly fulfils all these con-
ditions, and has also kept her thoughts all the
day fixed on her weal of her husband may con-
fidently expect to see her future husband in
her dreams." W. Sydney, F.R.S.L.

The Salvation of Holderness-

It was during the perpetration of his
atrocious desolation of Yorkshire and
Durham, by our first Norman king, that
this remarkable deliverance occurred.

The whilom Norman Uuke, had achi-
eved the victory of Senlac, thanks to Tosti
and Hardrada at Stamford Bridge, who
annihilated a portion of Harold's forces,
and necessitated the remainder to hasten,
by forced marches, some hundreds of
miles, over roads frequently little better
than sheep tracks, and through tangled
forests and morasses, to fight the invader
of Sussex, and his fresh and unwearied
troops. The result was the death of Royal
Harold, and the decisive defeat of his
troops ; the complete subjection of South
England, and the crowning of the con-
queror in Westminster Abbey. His task,
however, was not yet completed ; he was
but king of southern and eastern Engalnd,
whilst the west, and more especially the
north, still maintained their independence.
He then subdued the west, and eventually,
but not until after a stubborn resistance
by the brave Anglo-Danish population of

138 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Northumbria, — he succeeded in bringing
under his sceptre the lands lying north-
ward of the Humber. The Northumbrians,
however, jealous of foreign domination, as
soon as his back was turned, took up
arms in the cause of Edgar the Atheling,
the heir of the old Saxon line of kings,
now an exile in Scotland, which brought
the Conqueror again into Northumbria to
inflict another defeat on the insurgents.
This occurred again and again, until at
last, the Norman conqueror, swore by the
splendour of God, that he would most
effectually put an end to the insurrections
of these pestilent and turbulent North-
umbrians, by leaving none of them alive
to rise against his authority for evermore,
and to present a terrible example and
warning to others against rebellion.

Fearfully did he carry out his threat.
He was then abiding in York, the capital
city of Northumbria, the death place of
the Roman Emperors — Severus and Con-
stantius, — and where Constantine the
Great was first proclaimed Emperor.
" Go forth," said he, to his captains, " and
desolate the country from hence to Dur-
ham, sixty miles in extent ; put the people
to the sword, regardless of sex or age ;
burn their towns, villages, and home-
steads ; destroy their cattle and crops ;
and let there be nothing but death and
flames and desolation between the two
cities, for thus shall it be done to those

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I39

who rebel against my rule."
Langtoft wrote : —

" William turned agayn and held what he had

sworn,
All mad he was teyn, pasture, medow, and korne,
And slough both Fader and Sonne, some lete thai'

gow,
Hors and houndes their eta, un cittis skaped non.

Greta sin did William, that swilk wo did werk,
So grete vengeance he nam, of holy men of kirk,
That did no wern to him, ne no trespas,
Fro' York unto Durham no wonting stede was,
Nien yere, says my buke, lasted so grete sorrow
The Bishop Clerkes tuke their lives for two
borrows.

Ordericus Vitalis says that not less than
a hundred thousand persons perished in
the massacre and through the subsequent
famine and pestilence; and adds: — "I
have no doubt in asserting that so horrid
a butchery cannot pass unpunished."'

Holderness is a triangular district of
flat, low lying land in the south-eastern
corner of Yorkshire, with the Humber for
its base, the sea and the river Hull
forming tlie two sides, with Bridlington
lying a little north of the apex. In the
Brigantian times it consisted of forest
land, morasses, and pastures, where the
Parisii, a Tuetonic colony, reared their
herds of cattle. In the time of the Con
queror it was better drained, and grew
oats, but not wheat ; and had, besides the
two towns of Hedon and Patrington, a
considerable number of villages, which,

140 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

with the apperterast lands, were held by
Anglian and Danish proprietors.

Westward, across the Hull, was the
flourishing town of Beverley, thriving
under the famous charter of King Athel-
stane, which secured to the burghers sev-
eral valuable privileges and immunities.
It owed its origin to St. John of Beverley,
Archbishop of York, who founded here
a monastery, and built a church, and
who retired here when his episcopal
duties became too laborious for his ad-
vanced age ; and here he died, and was
buried in his church. He was reverenced
as a most holy man and a great saint,
having, according to the monkish chron-
icles, performed some wondrous miracles
both whilst living and after death; ever,
even when laid in his tomb, keeping a
watchful eye over the interests and wel-
fare of his monastery and town. When
the threatened devastation commenced, a
detachment of murderers and incendiaries
was sent eastward to lay waste the Wolds,
Holderness, and the district which is now
the East Riding generally. Agitated by
alarm, the people hastily packed up their
more portable articles of value, and fled to
take refuge at Beverley ; and the church
was soon crowded with fugitives, praying
for aid supernatural at the tomb of their
popular saint, trusting that the sanctity
of the place would protect thern from even
the ruffianism of the unscrupulous con-

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I4I

queror. And, indeed, so it proved, event-
ually, as further than Beverley south-
easterly, the fury was not extended, the
town and church standing on the right
bank of the Hull as a bulwark of pro-
tection for Holderness.

Thus say the monkish chroniclers was
it that the torrent of blood and flames
was averted beneath the walls of the
monastery of St. John. The soldiers had
come from York by way of Pocklington
and Market VVeighton, slaying and plund-
ering on their route, and leaving behind
them a track of blazing villages and
stacks, arriving at length in the precincts
of Beverley. One party of them came
hotly in pursuit of some fugitives, who
had some valuable property with them ;
and who turned breathless into the church
as a refuge. Their pursuers followed
sword in hand, some on horseback, others
on foot, and hesitated not to enter the
sacred precincts to rob and slay the fug-
itives even at the foot of the altar. As
they entered the church garth, they noticed
a venerable old man arrayed in pontifical
robes, and with golden bracelets on his
wrists, who, with dignified step, passed
out of the church by tlie open portal. This
served but to excite the cupidity of the
soldiers, of one, especially, hardened in
sacrilege by the plunder of many a church.
He urged his horse onward through the
wide doorway of the church, crying out:

142 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

" Deliver up thy bracelets, Sir Priest, or
die, and have thy church burnt over thy
dead body." St. John, for it was none
other than he, who had risen from his
tomb to defend his church, — faced the
intruder, crosier in hand : — " Vain and
presumptuous man," said he, " thou hast
dared to enter this sacred edifice on thy
horse and sword in hand : this day shalt
thou answer at a higher tribunal than
that of thy iron-hearted king for thy
sacriligeous crime." And immediately
the man fell from his horse on the pave-
ment, his body twisted into a shapless
mass of deformity, and his features re-
sembling more those of a demon than of
a human being.

The terror stricken companions of the
dead soldier turned back to York, and
narrated to the king the occurrence, who,
a slave to superstition of a certain kind,
although a ruthless despoiler of churches
and priests, was persuaded that this St.
John must be a most potent saint, and
that it would be impolitic to excite his
wrath further lest his vengeance should
fall upon himself personally. Hence he
issued instructions that the town and
monastery of Beverley should not be
molested, and that ail the possessions
of the church and monastery should be
held sacred.

The monastery held lands in not less
than 25 Holderness villages, which were

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I43

not touched by the hand of the ravager ;
and the rest of Holderness also escaped
scatheless, as the destroyers dared not
cross the Hull lest they should inadvert-
ently play havock on any portion of the
possessions of St. John.

In the Domesday Book, compiled some
fifteen or twenty years aferwards, we
find that in Yorkshire, there were found
not more altogether than 35 vileins and
8 bordarii. There is a constant re-cur-
rence of entries of lands " waste," as
Northallerton for instance "modo wastum
est," and the greater portion is reduced
m value from pounds in King Edward's
time to shillings ; as tor instance, Eas-
ingwold reduced from ^32 to 20 shillings
But in Holderness. we find such entries
as: — " Arram 20/- in King Edward's
time: the same now; Long Riston,
30/- : the same now ;" whilst just be-
yond the boundary to the north, the
manor of Bridlington as "value in King
Edward's time ^32 : now 8 shillings."
It is true several of the villages are
returned as reduced in value, and some
as partially waste ; but in the interior the
lands had been confiscated, their Anglo-
Danish proprietors reduced to serfdom,
and their patrimonies granted to Nor-
mans ; the seigniory, or supreme lordship
being granted to the Fleming, Drogo de
Beure, which will account for portions
having gone out of cultivation, and the

144 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

consequent lower estimate of value.

Perhaps the truth of the matter may
be, that William, when at York, had
heard of the holy miracle-working Saint
of Beverley, and imbued, as he was, with
a species of superstitous awe, a fear of
incurring the vengeance of the Saint, was
the reason of his giving instructions that
his monastery, and its appendages should
be spared.

Frederick Ross, f.r.h.s.

Yorkshire Fairs and Festivals-
Annual fairs for the sale of various
descriptions of merchandise are an in-
stitution of very great antiquit)'. As soon
as our ancestors had progressed in civilis-
ation sufficiently to desire articles which
were not produced in every locality, and
for which, owing to the sparseness of the
population, there was not demand enough
in any single town to supply the pro-
ducers or manufacturers with an adequate
inducement to confine their business op-
erations to one place, they must have felt
the need of yearly or half-yearly markets
in the centres of population for the inter-
change of such products. The entire
production of some commodites, as wool,
for example, is limited to one period of
the year ; and the demand for many des-
criptions of manufactured goods in any
one town of England in the middle ages
would not enable a dealer in them to live
upon his profits, unless he carried his
wares from one town to another.

Hence fairs were in their original form
annual or semi-annual markets, the priv-

146 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

ilege of holding which was granted by the
Crown or by the lord of the manor, in
most cases, to some religious house in or
near the town. To this connection with
the Church may be traced the custom of
holding the fair on the feast-day of the
patron saint of the place. For instance,
we find the Archbishop of York, at a very
early period, granting to the Prior and
Monks of Pontefract a charter for the
holding of " a weekly market on Wednes-
day in the village of Barnsley, and one
yearly fair to last four days, that is to
say, on the eve and day of St. Michael
and the two following days, with all
liberties and usages to such market and
fair belonging, unless this market and
this fair be to the injury of other markets
and fairs in the neighbourhood."

In like manner the Chester fairs were
granted by Hugh Lupus, second Earl of
Chester, and nephew of William I., to the
Abbot of St. Werburgh, and held on the
festivals of St. John and St. Werburgh ;
and Winchester fair, another very ancient
institution, by the monarch just named
to his cousin, the Bishop of Winchester,
one of whose successors subsequently
granted portions of the tolls to the priory
of St. Swithin, the Abbey of Hyde, and
the hospital of St. Mary Magdalene.

" Lee fair," held annually in August
and September, though now insignificant
as compared with what it was centuries

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I47

ago, is still one of the most important in
the West Riding. Though held at West
Ardsley, its two fairs, known to horse-
dealers throughout Yorkshire as " t' first
Lee " and " t' latter Lee," have given
their name to that part of the parish in
which they are held, which is very gen-
erally known up and down the country
as " Lee Fair," and to many the place
is better known by that title than by it.
proper name.

These fairs are of very ancient date,
Mr. Batty, in a paper on the Priory of
St. Oswald at Nostell, says that the
canons of that place received a charter
from Stephen to hold two annual fairs.
It has been shown, however, in the pre-
face to the Wakefield Mysteries, usually
called the Towneley Mysteries, that the
original charter was granted by Henry L,
and that Stephen only confirmed it. The
days for holding the two fairs are given
as the Feast of the Assumption and the
Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed
Virgin, viz : the 15th of August and
the 8th of September, but the fairs are
now held nine days later, viz. : on the
24th of August and the 17th of September.
To these two days they are now limited,
but a century ago there was in reality
but one fair, whicii lasted for three weeks,
and was one of the most important horse
fairs in the kingdom. Besides being cele-
brated for the largeness and importance

148 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

of its business in horses and cattle, it was
an annual market for the sale of almost
every description of produce, as all the
great fairs were originally, and as the
great fair of Nijni Novgorod, in Russia,
is at the present day. According to the
testimony of the oldest inhabitant, "Lee
Fair," fifty years ago, was a sight which
once seen was never forgotten. Such
stores of fruit, onions, &c., were to be
seen nowhere else ; and multitudes, it is
said, came from Huddersfield, and other
parts of the county, to purchase supplies
of those articles.

Scatcherd derives the name of Lee
from Dr. Legh, grantee of the site of
Nostell Priory, in 1540. That the Legh
family was connected with Ardsley is
shown by Thoresby, in his pedigree of
the Leghs, wherein William Legh is
named as seised of lands in West Ard-
sley and Westerton. This person was
attainted of high treason with Edward
Tatterstall, a clothier, and a priest named
Ambler, and was executed in 1541.

An interesting incidental notice of this
fair may be found in the court-rolls of the
manor of Wakefield, and from it some-
thing may be learned concerning the
manners of our ancestors six hundred
years ago, John of Heton, the head of
a family of some importance in this part
of the country, and living at Old Howley
Hall, near Woodkirk, went to the fair,

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I49

accompanied by his wife Anabel, and
attended by his serving man, John Graf-
ford. Indulging too freely in the beer
dispensed there, he overturned the stall
of William the Carter, and assaulted John
of Newcastle and Alice of Scardeby, who
had come from those distant places to this
very celebrated fair either to sell their
wares, or to provide themselves with a
stock of necessaries for the winter. Anabel
and Grafford seem to have participated in
the disturbance, for complaints were laid
against both, as well as against John of
Heton. John of Newcastle claimed a
hundred shillings damages for the assault,
which appears to have been a violent
one; and William the Carter laid his
damages at fort}^ shillings, which included
2s. 4d. for twenty gallons of beer, is. for
a cask, eighteen-pence for a sack, and is.
for damages done to the covering of his
stall.

The fair was known at that time as
Woodkirk fair, from the circumstance of
it belonging to the canons of that place,
and was even then one of the most famous
in England. It is said that merchants
came to it from France, Spain, the Nether-
lands, and even from Italy and Germany;
and that every family of consequence, and
the religious houses, for many miles round,
there made their purchases of necessaries
for the ensuing tv\elve months. A curious
illustration of the manners of the period

150 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

is afforded by the fact that a priest and
clerk regularly attended the fair for the
purpose of uniting in matrimony couples
who, meeting at that scene of mirth and
festivity might be desirous of entering that
state.

Another curious circumstance con-
nected with this famous old fair was
that on St. Bartholomew's day, on which
it ended, the scholars from the grammar
schools of Leeds, Wakefield, and other
places were brought to " Lee Fair " for
examination, and this was done yearly
down to the early part of the last century.
An amusing incident connected with one
of these annual gatherings is related by
an old man who died about 1780, and is
mentioned in Mr. W. Smith's " Old York-
shire." He says: — "My father, when a
boy, was present during a disputation,
and had well-nigh been knocked on the
head by a beadle, for, happening to ask
one of the boys who stood up improper
questions, the gentleman in gold-laced
robe and cocked hat applied his truncheon
so forcibly to the pericranium of the cate-
chiser as made him remember his impud-
ence all his life afterwards."

The fair ground is now the top and side
of a hill east of the church, not far from
an older site called Fair-steads field.

Another fair of this early period, but
now fallen to insignificance, was that now
known as Field-cock fair, concerning

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I5I

which Scatcherd, in his ''History of
Morley," says : — " In Saxon and early
Norman times the church of the parish,
in which Howley was situated, was at
Morley, and afterwards at Batley. There
are vestiges of some place of worship at
Howley, and this, in all likelihood, was a
mere parochial chapel, called in those
days a ' field kirk,' important enough,
however, to give rise to a village wake or
fair, which would naturally be called Field
Kirk Fair. We have also at or near to
Howley a " holy well," which also was a
place of annual resort. Here, then, in
the vicinity of Howley, we have two
religious edifices in early times, — the kirk
of Batley, and the chapel or field kirk at
Howley or Southwell. Can anyone doubt
that there was here, in former days, a
fair ? Ask, then, a villager returning
from the annual assemblage where he
has been, and he will reply : ' I have
been to Field-cock fair.' This is the only
name by which it goes ; but who can
doubt that it is a corruption of Field Kirk
Fair."

Nostell fair was granted by Henry I. to
the canons of St. Oswald, Nostell, and
commenced on the 3rd of August, con-
tinuing for five days. This ancient fair
was surpressed by John de L'Isle, on
account of the riots and disorders for
which it became notorious.

The connection in early times of fairs

152 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

with the Church, to which reference has
been made in the preceding pages, led
to their being frequently held in church-
yards. Bristol fair was an instance, and
in- London the ancient and now abolished
fair of St. Bartholomew was originally
held in the precincts of the priory in West
Smithfield, dedicated to that saint. Eld-
ward I., however, prohibited the custom in
1285 by an ordinance to the effect that
" The King commandeth that from hence-
forth neither fairs nor markets be held
in churchyards, for the honour of the
church," &c.

It seems probable that this custom
never obtamed in Barnsley, where the
extensive open space still known as the
Church Field afforded ample facilities for
the purpose in close contiguity to the
sacred edifice. The Easter Fair was prob-
ably a later institution, and in respect of
this it was arranged, as in many other
places, that it should be held elsewhere.
May-day Green would, of course, offer
itself as a very suitable locality. This
open space probably acquired its name
from the May-pole round which, ac-
cording to tradition, the youths of Barn-
sley danced in former times on the ist of
May, a custom derived from the festival
of Flora in the days of heathenism, when
it was introduced by the Romans. James,
in his romance of " Forest Days," calls it
Barnsley Green, and names it as a place

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 153

of sports in the time of Robin Hood ; but
there are no records showing either when
the May-pole was set up, or when it was
taken down.

York fair also dates from very remote
antiquity, the city itself being one of the
most ancient in the county, or even in
England. Mr. S. Baring-Gould tells a
good story of this fair in the second
volume of his " Yorkshire Oddities, In-
cidents, and Strange Events." Everyone
who knows York knows that the fine ruins
of the Abbey of St. Mary and the hoary
remains of the Priory of St. Leonard are
so near each other, in the grounds of the
Yorkshire Philosophical Society, that
when perfect their walls must have abut-
ted. Those who do not know this require
to be acquainted with the fact in order to
understand the story. Towards the close
of the fifteenth century, the brethren of St.
Leonard's numbered among them an un-
worthy brother who had taken the vows
in haste — in a fit of head-ache and re-
morse, after "potations pottle-deep" on
an occasion of civic rejoicing — and re-
pented at leisure. The head-ache was
bad, but the monastic fare of bread and
herbs was worse. He longed for beef
and strong ale, and in less than a year
felt that he must have a jolification, if he
died for it.

York fair approached, and to York fair

154 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Brother Jucundus resolved to go. So one
day, while the brethren were taking their
after-dinner nap, he relieved the sleeping
porter of his keys, and the sleeping Prior
of a crown, and hurried away to Parlia-
ment Street, whence the confused sounds
of ministrelsy and merriment had reached
his ears in the refectory, and made the
meagre fare more than ordinarily repulsive
to him. His eyes brightened, his colour
rose as he gazed delightedly at the feats
of jugglers aud posturers, the highly col-
oured and much exaggerated pictures of
giants and dwarfs, and the long row of
stalls laden with gingerbread and "spice."'
He supplemented his poor dinner with
pastry and cakes, he quaflfed strong ale,
he saw the shows. In the midst of his
enjoyment, and when he was beginning
to see double, he was confronted by two
grave monks, sent by the Prior in search
of their missing brother. He was ob-
liged to return to the abbey, where, in
solemn conclave, he was condemned to
be walled up alive in a convenient niche
m the cellar.

Just a year and a day after that fearful
event, the cellarer of St. Leonard's, on
going into the cellar, was startled by
hearmg a somewhat thick voice trolling a
jovial song, apparently in the niche in
which Brother Jucundus had been walled
up. He listened ; it was that erring
brother's voice ! He ran from the cellar

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I55

as fast as his trembling legs would bear
him, and in gasping accents told his
strange story to the Prior. The rev-
erend father pronounced it incredible ;
but he went down to the cellar, and
all the brethren followed. The voice was
still lustily singing. " A miracle !" ex-
claimed the Proir, and he immediately
gave orders for the wall to be broken
down. "A miracle !" he exclaimed again,
when it was done ; for there stood Brother
Jucundus, alive and jolly ! Now, lest my
readers should be as incredulous as the
Prior was until convinced by the sight of
the merry monk in the flesh, the seeming
miracle must be accounted for.

When Brother Jucundus became sober
enough to understand the situation in
which the awful sentence of the brethren
had placed him, he kicked until he kicked
down a portion of the wall, and, tumbling
through the opening, found himself in the
cellar of St. Mary's abbey. That was a
Cistercian foundation, in which the "silent
system " was observed ; and the brethren,
on the appearace of Jucundus among
them, asked no questions, and were con-
tent to suppose that he was a new brother,
duly installed. He abode in St. Mary's
unquestioned, therefore, until York fair
came round again, when the old longing
for a jolification returned, and as he could
not gratify it by a fling in Parliament
street and the Pavement, he resolved to

156 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

have a booze in the cellar. There he
was found, later in the day, drunk and
incapable. For that offence he was walled
up in the cellar, and in the same niche as
before, which, it will be remembered, was
in the party wall between the cellars of
the two religious houses. That was how
it happened ; and if any of my readers do
not believe the story, they are referred to
Mr. Baring-Gould.

In and around Bradford all fairs and
feasts were formerly outshone and dwarfed
into insignifiance by the septennial cele-
bration of the Bishop Blaise festival.
Upon what grounds this ancient saint
holds a place in the ecclesiastical kal-
ender, antiquaries are unable to say, or at
all events to agree. He is said to have
been Bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, and
to have been martyred under Licinius
in 316. Tradition credits him with the
invention of wool-combing, which is suf-
ficient, perhaps, to account for his former
reputation in this country, and especially
in Yorkshire. Minshow, speaking of him
in his obsolete dictionary, under the word
" Hocktide," says : — " This day about
Candlemas, when countrywomen go about
and make goode cheere ; and if they find
any of their neighbour women a spinning
that day, they burne and make a fire of
the distaffe, and thereof called S. blaze
his day." Dr. Percy, in his notes to the
'Northumberland Household Book,' says :

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 157

— •' The anniversary of St. Blazius is the
3rd of February, where it is still the cus-
tom in many parts of England to Hght up
fires on the hills and on St. Blayse night
— a custom anciently taken up, perhaps,
for no better reason than the jingling
resemblance ot the name to the word
blaze."

A representation of this festival is given
in a book about Yorkshire, published in
1814, and in which the order of the pro-
cession is set forth as follows : — " The
masters, on horseback, with each a white
sliver ; the masters' sons, on horseback ;
their colours ; the apprentices on horse-
back, in their uniforms ; music ; the king
and queen ; the royal family ; their guards
and attendants ; Jason ; the golden fleece ;
attendants ; Bishop and chaplain ; their
attendants ; shepherd and shepherdess ;
shepherd's swains ; attendants, &c. ; fore-
men and wool sorters, on horseback ; com-
bers' colours ; wool combers, two and two,
with wool wigs and various coloured
slivers." But, though a life-size figure of
Bishop Blaise may be seen at the prin-
cipal entrance of the Bradford Exchange,
the great septennial festivals formerly pro-
vided by the wool staplers of the town in
favour of their patron saint have long ago
fallen into disnetude.

It is now time to say something about
the amusements of the fairs at the early
period at which they had their origin.

158 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Ancient records leave a great deal to be
inferred from analogy, so far at least as
any particular fair is concerned ; but it
may, I think, be taken for granted that
what is known of fairs in other parts of
the kingdom applies equally to those of
li^orkshire.

There being no doubt that itinerant
entertainers of the people were in the
habit of tramping from town to town,
and from village to village, long before
the Norman Conquest of this country,
there can be none that the minstrels and
" gleemen " — the latter class comprising
dancers, posturers, acrobats, jugglers, and
exhibitors of performing bears, horses,
and monkeys, — were to be found at the
fairs from the earliest period. Strutt, in
his well-known work on the sports and
amusements of the people, gives numerous
illustrations from the Harleian collection of
manuscripts in the British Museum lib-
rary, which constitute our chief authority
as to the amusements of the fairs in the
middle ages. They introduce us to ac-
robats and posturers performing the var-
ious feats which have been the stock-in-
trade of the profession down to the
present day, — to jugglers exhibiting the
same feats with knives and balls as their
representatives in the nineteenth century,
— to performers of balancing feats, among
which we find the balancing of a cart-
wheel, just as it was performed some

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 159

years ago by an elderly negro, in the
streets of London, — to monkeys vaulting
over a stretched cord, and bears and
horses walking on their hind legs alone.
That such freaks of nature as have had
their representatives in our own time in
the spotted boy, the Siamese twins, and
the hairless horse had begun to be ex-
hibited by showmeu in the reign of Eliza-
beth, is shown by the allusion to such
exhibitions made by Shakespere in " The
Tempest," when the mariners discover
Caliban ; and the practice of displaying
in front of the shows large pictures of the
wonders to be seen within prevailed at
the same period is distinctly alluded to by
Jonson, in " The Alchymist :" —

" What should my knave advance

To draw this company ? He hung out no banners

Of a strange calf with five legs to be seen.

Or a huge lobster with six claws."

When this comedy was written, the
public entertainers, encouraged by the
favour of the people they amused, were
looking up again, after the sore depression
of the Vagrancy Act of Elizabeths reign,
which scheduled strolling jugglers and
minstrels with fair-going thieves, gipsy
fortune-tellers and wandering beggars.

That companies of stroiling players
visited the fairs at the same period is
shown by the prologue written for some
London apprentices who, when they gave
a dramatic performance in 1614, admitted

l60 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

their want of skill in acting and elocution
in the lines —

" We are not half so skilled as strolling players
Who could not please here as at country fairs."

There is an entry in the household book
of the Clifford family, quoted in Whitaker's
" History of Craven," of the payment in
1638 of one pound to "certain itinerant
players ;" and two years later, an entry
occurs of the payment of the like amount
to " a certain company of roguish players,
who represented a New Way to pay Old
Debts," the adjective being used, it would
seem, to distinguish the company referred
to, as being unlicensed or unrecognised,
from the strolling players who had per-
mission to assume the title of some peer
and to wear his livery. The Earl of
Leicester maintained such a company,
and several other nobles of that period
did the same, the actors being known as
" my Lord Leicester's company," or as
the case might be, and being allowed to
perform elsewhere when their services
were not required by their patron.

The lesser sights of a country fair in
the first quarter of the eighteenth century
are graphically delineated by Gay in the
character of the ballad-singer in " The
Shepherd's Week,'' bringing before the
reader's mental vision the stalls, the lot-
teries, the mountebanks, the tumblers, the
rope-dancers, the raree-shows, the pup-
pets, and " all the fun of the fair. "

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. l6l

" How pedlers' stalls with glittering toys are laid,

The various fairings of the country maid.

Long silken laces hang upon the twine,

And rows of pins and amber bracelets shine.

How the tight lass knives, combs, and scizzors spies,

And looks on thimbles with designing eyes.

Of lotteries next with tuneful note he told,

Where silver spoons are won, and rings of gold'

The lads and lasses trudge the street along,

And all the fair is crowded in his song,

The mountebank now treads the stage, and sells

His pills, his balsams, and his ague-spells;

Now o'er and o'er the nimble tumbler springs,

And on the rope the venturous maiden swings.

Jack Pudding, in his party-coloured jacket.

Tosses the glove, and jokes at every packet.

Of raree-shows he sung, and Punch's feats,

Of pockets picked in crowds, and various cheats.

The fact that, even in modern timesi
the commercial element has always had
precedence of the amusements of the
fairs, in the cases in which horse and
cattle fairs are held in combination with
pleasure fairs, shows, however, that the
former was the origin of the fairs, and
the latter an incidental adjunct. Some
of the earliest incidents of the Yorkshire
fairs that can be gathered from old news-
papers, diaries, letters, &c., relate to horse
and cattle dealing, and little is found
concerning shows and other amusements
earlier than the second quarter of the
present century. Thus, in the diary of
John Hobson, of Dodworth, included in
the volume of " Yorkshire Diaries and
Autobiographies," issued by the Surtees
Society, the only one relatmg to a fair is

l62 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

the following, made May i8th, 1730 : —
" Bought a pair of oxen at Rotherham
fair."

Adwalton was formerly the scene of an
important cattle fair, and when, in 1765,
the first sheep and cattle fair was held at
Wakefield the inhabitants of the former
place proclaimed it illegal, and threatened
actions at law " against all persons by
whom such intended meetings at Wake-
field shall be held," on the ground that
they would be highly prejudicial to the
neighbouring fairs and markets at Ad-
walton, which were held under royal
charter.

Birstal fair or feast was enlivened in
1792 by the breaking loose of a bull that
was made to contribute to the amusement
of the company by being secured to a
post, and baited with dogs. This was
one of the popular amusements of those
" good old times," which ever)' generation
assigns to a previous century. The pop-
ulace did not always have the whole of
the sport to themselves, however, for it
sometmnes happened that the bull got
loose, and then he was apt to turn the
table on his tormentors. On the occasion
referred to, the Birstal bull chased the
spectators, some of whom he drove into a
pond, where they were as well drenched
as they were frightened.

The beginning of the present centur)/
introduces to our notice Robert Ireland,

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 163

a famous leaper, who appeared in a circus
at Sheffield fair in 1802. He was a native
of Yorkshire, and a tall well proportioned
young man, who had been for some time
travelling from fair to fair. Mr. Charles
Leslie, of Siindon House, near Arundel,
to whom I am indebted for this account
of him, says he leaped over three men on
horseback, vaulted backward and for-
ward over a horse without the aid of a
spring board, and did flights through
balloons. When walking he leaped over
gates and hedges for amusement or per-
haps for practice. On one occasion he
leaped over a loaded waggon, and on
another accomplished a long jump of 23
feet. While in Sheffield, he made a wager
— and won it — that he would hop, and kick
with the same foot the sign of the Grey-
hound, in West Bar, which then projected
over the causeway.

In the following year, while performing
in Burslem, he kicked a bladder on a pole
20 feet high, and leaped over a coach, on
the roof of which were four volunteers
with shouldered muskets and fixed bay-
onets. He is said to have broken his neck
but the year of the casualty has not been
ascertained.

The next event in the history of the
Yorkshire fairs of which I have been
able to find any record occurred at
Northallerton m 1810. Two horse-
dealers, Isaac Tetley, of Leeds, and a

164 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Cheshire man, named Watkinson, were
riding from that fair on the night of the
14th February, when one of them chall-
enged the other to a race to Leeds for
twenty guineas. The bet was taken, and
the start made from Harewood bridge,
which would make the distance nine
miles. Watkinson won the wager by
half a length, accomplishing the distance
in twentj^-six minutes and twelve seconds.

Thomas Frost.

James Nayler,

Th3 Mad Quaker, who Claimed

to be the Messiah.

History furnishes particulars of several
men who have claimed to be the Messiah,
and perhaps the most celebrated of the
number is James Nayler, " the mad
Quaker." He was born at East Ard-
sley, near Wakefield, in the year 1616.
It is certain that his parents were in
humble circumstances, and it is generally
believed that his father occupied a house
near the old church, and that he was a
small farmer. James Nayler, for a person
in his station of life, received a fairly good
education. In his early manhood he was
a husbandman, and resided in his native
villa<:je. When about twenty-two years
of age he married, as he puts it, " ac-
cordmg to the world," and removed to
Wakefield.

Shortly after his marriage, the Civil
War broke out in England, and Nayler
took his share in the struggle between
King and Parliament. He joined, in
1641, as a private, the Parliamentarian
army, and his conduct and ability gaining
him advancement, he rose to the position

l66 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

of quarter-master under General Lambert.
While in Scotland ill-health obliged him
to retire from active service, and he re-
turned home.

Nayler carefully studied the Scriptures,
and was a zealous member of the Inde-
pendents, worshipping at Horbury, but
he left this body in disgrace. It trans-
pired that he had been paying attentions
to a married woman named Mrs. Roper,
of Horbury, whose husband had been
absent from her for a long period, and
that she became a mother, and that
Nayler was the father of the child. The
Rev. Mr. Marshall, the minister of the
Independents, exposed him, and took him
severely to task, so that he was finally
expelled from the society.

George Fox, the founder of the Society
of Friends, visited Wakefield in the year
1651, and made a convert of James Nay-
ler. Here commences the real interest
of Nayler's career — a career in which
there is much to deplore, but much also
certainly to cause wonder. He possessed
extraordinary gifts as a preacher, and
impressed the people with the truth of
his teaching, more especially in the North
and West of England. Trouble beset
him almost on every hand — trouble often
caused through his own mistaken zeal and
frail conduct ; but he bore his trials with
a noble Christian spirit. Nayler had no

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 167

sooner joined the Quakers then he com-
menced what he termed his travels. At
the quarter-sessions held at Appleby, in
1652, he was tried and found guilty of
blasphemy, and sentenced to twenty
weeks' imprisonment. Un being released
he continued spreading his doctrines in
the North. We gather from the remarks
of an officer who had served under Crom-
well a testimony to the power of Nayler's
preaching. " After the battle of Dunbar,"
says the officer, *' as I was riding in
Scotland at the head of my troop, I
observed at some distance from the road
a crowd of people, and one higher than
the rest ; upon which I sent one of my
men to see, and bring me word what was
the meaning of the gathering ; and seeing
him ride up and stay there, without
returning according to my order, I sent
a second, who stayed in like manner ; and
then I determined to go myself. When
I came thither, I found it was James
Nayler preaching to the people, but with
such power and reaching energy as I had
not till then been witness of. I could not
help staying a little, although I was
afraid to stay, for fear I was made a
Quaker, being forced to tremble at the
sight of myself. I was struck with more
terror by the preaching of James Nayler
than I was at the battle of Dunbar, when
we had nothing else to expect but to fall
a prey to the swords of our enemies,

l68 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

without being able to help ourselves. I
clearly saw the Cross of Christ to be
submitted to, so I durst sta}^ no longer,
but got off, and carried condemnation for
it in my own breast. The people there
cried out against themselves, imploring
mercy, a thorough change, and the whole
work of salvation to be effected by them."

Nayler, in 1654, after visiting in the
West, wended his way to London, and
preached to two congregations which had
been formed by Edward Burrough and
Francis Howgil, members of the Society of
Friends, who suffered imprisonment with
him at Appleby. He broke up both con-
gregations, and drew after him. " some
inconsiderate women."

His mind gave way, and he believed
that he was the Messiah. " Notwith-
standing the irregularities of Nayler's
life," says Scatcherd, the learned hist-
orian of Morley, " there were many
things in the man, which, with low and
ignorant people, exceedingly favoured his
pretensions to the Messiahship. He ap-
peared, both as to form and feature, the
perfect likeness to Jesus Christ, according
to the best descriptions. His face was of
the oval shape, his forehead broad, his
hair auburn and long, and parted on the
bro\v, his beard flowing, his eyes beaming
with a benignant lustre, his nose of the
Grecian or Caucassian order, his figure
erect and majestic, his aspect sedate, his

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. l6g

speech sententious, deliberative and grave,
and his manner authoritative." Carlyle
has drawn a pen picture of Nayler, but
not with the skill of the foregoing.

It is not our intention to attempt to
trace Nayler from place to place in his
wanderings, but to touch on the more
important episodes of his closing years.
He visited the West in 1652 on a religious
mission, and revisited it again four years
later. During his visit to Cornwall, he
prophesied, and subsequently one of the
charges made against him was that he
proclaimed himself to be a prophet. At
Exeter he was charged with vagrancy,
and imprisoned. During his confinement
he was visited by a number of women,
who had been moved by his teaching.
Amongst tlie number was a widow named
Dorcas Erbury. She fell into a swoon,
and It was supposed that she was dead.
Nayler went through certain ceremonies,
and he pretended to have restored her to
life. Referring to this when examined by
the Bristol Magistrate at a later period,
the woman said, " Nayler laid his hand
on my head after I had been dead two
days, and said, 'Dorcas, arise!' and I
arose, and live, as thou seest." On being
questioned if she had any witness to cor-
roborate her statement, she said that her
mother was present. The local authorities
at Exeter released Nayler after detaining
him for a short time. At this period

170 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

some strange scenes occurred. " The
usual posture of Nayler," says Scatcherd,
" was sitting in a chair, while his com-
pany of men and women knelt before him.
These, it appears, were very numerous
and constant for wliole days together.
At the commencement of the service, a
female stepped forth and sang : —

"This is the joyful day,

Behold ! the King of righteousness is come !"

Another taking him by the hand ex-
claimed : —

" Rise up, my love — my dove — and come away,
Why sittest thou among the pots."

Then, putting his hand upon her mouth,

she sunk upon the ground before him,

the auditory vociferating: —

" Holy, holy, holy, to the Almighty."

His procession through Chepstow caused
much amazement in that quiet place.
" Nayler " is described as being mounted
on the back of a horse or mule ; — one
Woodcock preceded him bareheaded, and
on foot ; — a female on each side of Nayler,
held his bridle ; tnany spread garments
in his way, — while the women sang :
'• Hosaimah to the Son of David— blessed
is he that coineth in the name of llie Lord
— Hosantiah in llie highest !"'

Nayler and his followers entered Bristol
in a procession similar to the one just
described. We are told that on this
particular day in the year of grace 1656

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 171

when he visited the city of Bristol, rain
was falling, and the roads were deep
with mud, but ne ther mud nor rain
could check the ardour of himself and
disciples, and they sang hymns of praise.
They first wended their steps to the High
Cross, and then to the White Hart,
Broad-street, where a couple of Quakers
were staying. The local magistrates were
soon on the alert, and had the party
apprehended and cast into prison. After
being examined by Bristol magistrates,
Nayler and his followers were sent to
London to be examined before Parlia-
ment. His examination and the debate
on it occupied many days, and the
members finally resolved " that James
Nayler was guilty of horrid blasphemy,
and that he was a grand impostor and
seducer of the people ;" and his sentence
was, " that he should be set on the
pillory, in the Palace Yard, Westminster,
during the space of two hours, on Thurs-
day next, and be whipped by the hang-
man through the streets from Westmin-
ster to the Old Exchange, London ;
and there, likewise, he should be set
on the pillory, with his head in the
pillory, for the space of two hours, be-
tween the hours of eleven and one, on
Saturday next, in each place wearing a
paper containing an inscription of his
crimes ; and that at the Old Exchange
his tongue should be bored through with

172 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

a hot iron, and that he should be there
also stigmatised in the forehead with the
letter B ; and that he should be after-
wards sent to Bristol, to be conveyed
into and through the city on horseback,
with his face backwards, and there also
should be whipped the next market-day
after he came thither ; and that thence
he should be committed to prison in
Bridewell, London, and there be restrained
from the society of all people, and there
to labour hard till he should be released
by Parliament ; and during that time he
should be debarred the use of pen, ink
and paper, and he should have no relief
but what he earned by his daily labour."
This terrible sentence was duly carried
out, although Parliament and Cromwell
were petitioned to mitigate the punish-
ment. During his imprisonment he wrote
his recantation in letters addressed to the
Quakers. After being confined for two
years he was set at liberty, and repaired
to Bristol, and at a public meeting made
a confession of his offence and fall. His
address moved nearly all present to tears.
The Quakers once more received him
back to their Society.

His end came in the year 1660. In
that year he left London for Wakefield,
but failed to reach it. At Holm, near
King's Rippon, Huntingdonshire, one
night he was bound and robbed, and
left in a field, where he was found by a

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I73

countryman. He was removed to a house
at Holm and everj^ attention paid to him,
but he soon died from the results of the
rough treatment he had received at the
hands of the highwaymen.

William Andrews, f.r.h.s.

Duke Richard's Doom :
A Legend of Sandal Castle-

The castle of Sandal was under close
leaguer, for Margaret of Anjou, Lord
Clifford, and the followers of the Lan-
castrian chivalry were arrayed in arms
against Richard, Duke of York, whose
claim to the throne of England had been
approved by the ordeal of battle, when
the red rose of Lancaster was trampled
in the blood and dust of Northampton
field, on the 20th July, 1460.

Five months had barely elapsed since
that evil day, but the triumph of York
had been confirmed by the solemn de-
cision of Parliament ; and it was decreed
that, when Henry VL passed from the
stage of life, the house of York should
assume orb and sceptre maugre the kingly
paternity of Edward, Prince of Wales.

Margaret of Anjou felt her bosom stir
with the mother and the queen, as she
heard the news of the great disaster that
ruined the house of Lancaster. Animated
by the most implacable hatred towards
York, the queen received with the utmost
disdain his peremptory summons to repair
to London, but prepared to meet him in

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 175

the field, and again appeal to the god of
battle.

So, as that fated year drew towards its
close. North umbria gleamed with arms,
and its wild breezes displayed the em-
blazoned banners of Northumberland,
Clifford, Neville, and Dacre, as the Lan-
castrians took the field with bow and
bill. More eager for the battlefield than
for the reversion of the crown and robe
that decked the puppit king, Henry of
Windsor, Richard carried his banner
northward, to find his enemies too strong
for the small but valiant army that
marched at his back. In this strait
he threw himself into his castle of San-
dal, where he proposed to await the
arrival of reinforcements under Edward
Earl of March.

The fortress was crowded with armed
men ; and outside, the army of Queen
Margaret held it under close observation.

On the 29th of December, Duke Richard
sat in council with his noble friends and
officers, who, however, united to dissuade
him from the rash step of engaging the
enemy. Strangely enough, Richard came
to the resolution to fight, and many
speculations have been advanced to ac-
count for this decision, almost unpar-
alelled in its rashness. It has been
suggested that a scarcity ot provisions
compelled him to assume the defensive ;
that Margaret taunted him by the most

176 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

insulting challenges, and that she deceived
him by concealing the numbers of her
troops, availing herself, it is supposed,
of some small hillocks, and by the woods
that then girded the stronghold, except-
ing the open space in the direction of
Wakefield.

The military ardour and high courage
of Duke Richard were probably the real
incitements to the desperate encounter.
Be that as it may, on the morning of the
24th of December, York, having completed
his preparations for battle, threw open
the gates, lowered the drawbridge, and
displayed to the incensed Lancastrians
his insulting banner, with its proud de-
vice of a Falcon volant argent, with a
fetterlock Or. The noble bird was rep-
resented with expanded wing, attempting
to break open the lock, which was pre-
sumed to typify the crown of England.
Duke Richard was nobly supported as he
issued forth to fight his last battle, and
the Falcon shook its wings over the crests
of the Earl of Salisbury, Sir Thomas
Neville, Sir David Hall, Sir John Parr,
Sir John Mortimer, Sir Hugh Mortimer,
Sir Walter Limbrike, Sir John Gedding,
Sir Eustace Wentworth, Sir Guy Har-
rington, and many other brave gentlemen
and famous men-at-arms, the whole army
consisting of not more than 6,000 men.

With trumpets sounding, and the van
flashing with steel, and gay with fluttering

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I77

pennons, the chivalrous army burst upon
the Lancastrians that stood in arms before
the castle, and the sudden clash of arms
and battle shouts of York and Lancaster
rang over the field. Fierce and bloody
was the conflict ; but the Lancastrians
were broken, and their bravest hewn
down, before the onset of York, but while
sword, and lance, and mace were in full
play, the main body of Queen Margaret's
army came marching up from Sandal
Common, the fierce Lord (Clifford urging
on the van, impatient to bathe his weapons
in the blood of the Yorkists, and deliver
his soul of the dreadful vow that he had
made to cut off the house of York, root
and branch, in requital for his father's
loss, who had fallen, with Somerset and
Northumberland, fighting at St. Alban's,
under the banner of King Henry.

In that hour the bravest warriors in
England met face to face, inflamed by
mutual hatred, and as the battle was hand
to hand, the archers probably pla)-ed but a
subordinate part in the bloody conflict
that ensued.

No slackness was found on either side,
and York was no doubt soon cut off from
the castle, as the Lancastrians drew up,
thousand after thousand, and on every
side the doomed Yorkists found swords
and lances flashing in their faces. Now
all the heroic courage of Duke Richard
was exerted to maintain the field, and
lances were flung aside, as sword, and

178 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

mace, axe, and dagger, performed their
murderous work. Hot with the certainty
of triumph and revenge, the Lancastrians
shrank not from the mighty strokes of the
despairing Yorkists, who soon found that
no prospect of victory or retreat re-
mained to them ; and we may be sure
that Duke Richard found full employment
for his arms, as Queen Margaret's cav-
aliers directed their attacks against him ;
and soon his mail gaped with many a
rent, where practised warriors had found
and probed a joint with keen sword, or
gashed the tempered steel with crashing
blow of axe or falchion. Gallantly the
heroes fought it out to the bloody end;
cleaving and shearing with the terrible
two-handed swords ; smashing helms and
iron skull-caps by sheer force of weighty
mace ; gashing good mail with the temp-
ered battle-axe, and heaping the field with
dead and dying men.

Pennons and banners fluttered in the
December wind ; hoarse war-cries re-
sounded o'er the field ; loudly rang out the
trumpets of the royalists, and heavier fell
the strokes of Clifford as he urged the
battle-surges against the struggling bands
of York. The wounds of the Duke, al-
though they dill not daunt his own
courageous soul, operated upon the cour-
age of his followers, and a panic began to
spread through their decimated ranks, as
Clifford drew his lines closer round them
and beat a bloody way into their ranks

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I79

wherever a gap appeared, until the Httle
army was cleft through and through, and
the sword was raised, not in chivalrous
conflict, but vengeful massacre. York
fell, and with him the flower of his army.

So insatiable was Clifford in his pursuit
of vengeance, that, on overtaking the
Duke's son — a mere youth, — who had left
the castle accompanied by his tutor, he
put him to death with his own hands,
although the youth fell upon his knees, in
his earnest supplication for mercy. But
CHffbrd's bloody oath was on his lips as
he plunged the cold steel into the lads'
heart : — " As thy father slew mine, so
will I sla}' thee and all thy kin."

Over two thousand Yorkists perished
on Wakefield Green ; and the noblest of
the prisoners were condemned to the
block by the sanguinary Margaret ; and,
among the rest, the veteran Salisbury.
It is recorded, by Welhamstede, a con-
temporary writer, that York was captured
in the field, and there beheaded. It is
certain, however, that his body was sub-
jected to the axe, and we can easily
believe the story of Clifford bearing the
Duke's head at point of spear into the
Queen's presence, and that the worthy
couple exposed it on Micklcgate Bar, at
York. So perished Duke Richard of
York, in the fiftieth year of his age, in
the last hours of the sad, eventful year
of 1460.

Edward Lamplough.

■ Obsolete Industries of the
East Riding.

The discovery of coal and the apphc-
ation of steam power to machinery have
locahsed and concentrated some manu-
factures which were once widely diffused.
Not many generations ago nearly every
house was a factory, in which the spinning
wheel, and in some instances the hand-
loom also, played an important part.
Railways have practically annihilated dis-
tance between the manufacturing towns
and the rural villages, but when there was
little or no communication between these
places, each community was compelled to
produce within itself the necessary articles
of food and wearing apparel. Hence the
use of the picturesque, but fast-disap-
pearing windmill, is nearly abandoned,
and the almost forgotten sound of the
whirring spinning-wheel, and the click of
the hand-loom are entirely things of the
past.

Before the country was so well drained,
there were many districts where flax or
lin could be grown ; but now the flax
industry is nearly, if not altogether, a
thing of the past, though Holme-on-

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. l8l

Spaldinp;-Moor, Winestead, Patrington,
Sunk Island, and the Lowlands at Broom-
fleet and Gilberdike, once produced en-
ormous quantities. After the reaping of
the Hn, it was steeped in water, to de-
compose the woody portion, and when this
offensive work was completed, the hn was
heckled and swingled, and the fibrous
portion spun into fine thread, during the
long winter evenings, by the female mem-
bers of the family. We retain the memory
of this occupation in our word spinster —
literally a female spinner, but now applied
to unmarried females generally ; so Web-
ster was a female webber, or weaver, but
now a proper personal name ; and litster
(Lister) was a female dyer.

As every house could not well have a
hand-loom, there would be in each com-
munity one or more weavers who would
be fully occupied in making up the linen
yarn into sheets, table cloths, bed hang--
ings, bed tickings, or towels, and the
woollen yarn into coarse but warm and
serviceable frieze, and other rough cloths ;
while a combination of the two — a linen
warp and woollen weft — produced linsey
woolsey — a material much approved for
dresses.

I have before me the indenture of
apprenticeship of James Fairbotham, of
Nafferton, who was bound for twelve
years to Richard Billingham, of East
Lutton, in order to be " taught, learned,

l82 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

and informed in the Trade, Art, Mistory
[sic] , and Occupation of a Weaver.''
Whatever "mislory" there was in the
weaver's occupation, they certainly pro-
duced a good article, free from s'tarch,
whiting, or shoddy. Their linen goods
were made to wear, not to sell ; and were
not at all like the cotton goods which
Manchester now supplies to the nomadic
tribes of Africa. When a parcel reaches
them, the nearest river is soon filled with
a milky fluid, caused by the washing out of
the calico all the thickening and stiffness,
which prevent the simple natives dyeing
it with their brilliant reds, blues, or yel»
lows. Although the above=mentioned
James F'airbotham terminated his ap-
prenticeship in February, 1794, there are
still in use linen bed-furniture, ticking,
and sheets, which he wove, when master
weaver at Nafferton.

The last of the linen weavers in Drif-
field was " Jossy " Barnett, who had
sufScient work to employ two or three
looms in his own house, now No. i,
Chapel Lane. The very mention of his
name brings a smile on the faces of those
who knew him. So guileless, so peculiar,
so pleasant ! His slim, trim figure, his
white neck-cloth, his tall hat, knee
breeches, and ever-smiling face, were
well known throughout the district, and
the memory of him is pleasant to this day.
W^ien his elderly mother hawked the pro-

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 183

duce of her son's loom, she used a donkey
and panniers to carry her wares ; but
Joseph carried his pack on his back, and
dearly loved a crack of talk, during which
he imparted all the news of the district
he had travelled, and received in return
that which would interest his customers
in the next village. Like many others of
his trade, he was a staunch Methodist,
and was for many years Superintendent
of the Driffield Wesleyan Sunday School,
m conjunction with the late venerable Mr.
Edward Hayes.

The last of the linen weavers at Welton
was John Bentley, v.h.o was also a Meth-
odist and a class leader. At South Cave,
poor deformed Willie Lockey, the butt of
the thoughtless and ignorant, was the last
to ply the shuttle there.

Though some of the bleaching might
be done at home, yet bleaching was a
trade which had a home at Beverley,
where were three or four extensive bleach
ing yards. Some of these, though covered
With houses, shops, and streets, are still
called the Jjleach Yards. There used to
be a bleach yard near Mulberry Cottage,
at Driffield.

Carpet weaving was once an important
industry in the East Ridmg. Where there
was an al)undance of water power, it was
utilised for other purjioses than for flour
mills onl)'. The large flour mills ol Mr.
Wilson, of Wansford, now occupy the

184 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

site of a similar building, which was
burnt down, and which had beenja carpet
factory. I have seen carpets^woven there
which, for design, colour, and material,
will compare favourably with carpets made
to-day. There used to be a large carpet
mill at Boynton, which employed hundreds
of hands ; while at Driffield, Bell Mill flour
mill was once an extensive woollen spin-
ning mill, and previous to that a paper mill.
It was then called the factory, and the
lane leading to it is still called Factory
Lane. In Middle Street, Driffield, where
the York Union Bank now stands, once
stood a carpet weaver's shop, kept by a
man named Hillaby ; and

" Children, coming home from school,
Looked in at the open door,"

with that curiosity which impels them to
watch the progress of any mechanical
work that happens to be in their way.

Mr. Thos. Holderness writes: "Per-
haps the last survivor of the journeyman
weavers in Bridlington was old Jimmy
Welbourn. Jimmy was a little, thin, wiry,
old man, with knee breeches and ribbed
stockings, and wore a very long frock coat,
of primitive cut. He could read but could
not vyrite, and was particularly fond of
studying a large illustrated edition of
" Cooalpepper Yahbley Beuk "' (Culpep-
per's Herbal). He was a firm believer in
astrology. This made him a skilful dis-

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 1S5

ciple of old Culpepper, for he was always
very particular to gather his " yerbs "
when certain planets were in certain
positions, as he believed that they would
otherwise not possess their desired med-
icinal properties. Ignorant and super-
stitious as the old man was, he must have
had remarkable arithmetical and math-
emathical abilities, for a friend once set
him the question : " If a pope could pray a
soul out of purgatory in an hour, a cardinal
in two hours, an archbishop in three
hours, and a bishop in four hours, how
long would it take them to do it, if they
all prayed together ?" The old man set
his whole soul on the task, and some time
after went to his young friend, and said :
'• Ah've deean it!' His friend looked at
Jimmy's paper and said: "Why, Jimmy,
what are all these?" "Figures," an-
swered Jimmy. " Figures ? Do you call
these figures ?" "Yes," responded Jimmy ;
for, being ignorant of figures, he had in-
vented a set of his own, and with these
nondescript signs had correctly solved the
problem."

These weavers and spinners would re-
quire reels and other wooden articles, and
in order to supply them, a Mr. Mark Lay-
bourne built a wood-turning mill, on the
beck down Albion Street, Driffield, to be
worked by water power. It is now used
as a flour mill, and is known as Witty's
Flour Mill.

l86 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Captain Edward Anderson, in his poem,
" The Sailor," thus describes those days
that are gone by :

" My clothing then it mostly was home-spun ;
My stockings did my mother's taste display,
Black and white wool she mixed to make them gray,
But then the richest woman in the town
Would go to church in linsey-woolsey gown.
• »*•*«

On Yorkshire Wolds we mostly barley eat,
For there they grow but very little wheat ;
We lived on barley bread, and barley pies.
And oats and peas the want of wheat supplies."

Steam and machinery have made it
easier to buy new articles rather than
repair old ones. A skilled workman will
sometimes tell you that he cannot mend
an article except at a cost greater than
the cost of a new one ; and as woollen
clothes can be obtained for little money,
leather breeches making is a thing of the
past. Brogues, they used to be called ;
and though the thing is obsolete, you may
yet hear an old country tailor use the
term for trousers. The Blue-coat children
in Beverley used to wear leather breeches;
and the famous Danish chieftain, Ragnar
Lodbrog. got his nickname, Lodbrog
(Leather Breeches), from a pair he made
to protect his legs in his fai)le(l conflict
with the dragon.

Leather gloves for l^edgers and ditchers
are still made at Little Drififield, and sold
m large quantities, but the industry is

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 187

not SO thriving as in olden times before
kid and woollen gloves were introduced.

The discovery of coal abolished the use
of cazzons for fuel. The cazzons were
formed of cow's dung, which was taken
up fresh, and cast against a wall. When
dry, it was easily detached, and if burnt
with wood and chalk formed an ex-
cellent fire, giving much heat and httle
smoke.

Before the days of Bryant and May, in
the days when the flint and steel and the
tinder box were the agents for procuring
a light, the boys and men of the family
made matches, which were used for ob-
taining a blaze after the necessary glow
had been obtained by the tinder. A soft
piece of wood was obtained, and cut,
within half an inch of the end, into thin
slips, not severed from each other. The
bundle was dipped into a solution of
brimstone, and the matches broken off as
required. Sometimes the spells (slips)
were cut off, and dipped at each end, so
that when one end had been used to
obtain the required blaze, the lighted
match could be blown out, and the other
end reserved for another occasion. These
matches, being separate, were long and
thin ; and gave rise to the saying, applied
to a thin person :— " He's as fat as a
match dipped at both ends."

At Paull, near Hull, was once an ex-
tensive dockyard, where ship-building was

1 88 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

largely carried on. In May, 1812, The
A71S071, a 74 gun ship, was built here, at a
cost of ;^i40,ooo.

The whale fishery connected with Hull
was a most important local industry,
seeing that the average annual value of
the oil, which the whalers brought from
1772 to 1852, was nearly ;f65,ooo ; or,
including the value of the bone, over
;^85,ooo. During the same eighty years,
an annual average of 1,070 sailors went
aboard the Hull whalers, bound for the
Northern seas. The vessels intended for
this service were strengthened externally
by iron plates, and internally by strong
stanchions and cross bars, so as to resist
the nipping of the ice. The departure of
the whalers was a time of great excite-
ment, for nearly all the inhabitants were
connected with some one or other in-
terested in the success of the fishery, and
the piers and quays were crowded with
people, who cheered the crews and wished
them God-speed. And when they re-
turned, the bells rang and people hurrahed
and crowded the streets to do honour to
their brave townsmen, who endured such
hardships, and faced such danger, in the
exercise of their callin^^ Yes ! when the
ship came in there was much rejoicing.

The oil was used for domestic lighting,
and, throughout the Riding, may still be
seen the jaw-bones of whales used as gate-
posts, relics of the whaling industry of

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. 189

Hull, whose merchants, in 1618, had Jan
Magen Island granted to them by King
James, as a base of operations for their
special pursuit.

Jno. Nicholson.

Bolton Abbey •
Its History and Legends-

'• This hoary pile subdued by outrage and decay."

Of all the grey and ancient buildings
which dot the swelling uplands and smiling
valleys of our land a larger number
probably date their origin to the hundred
years following the battle of Hastings,
than to any of the succeeding centuries.
In addition to the large number of religious
edifices planned and commenced during
this period, the turbulent reign of Stephen,
the last of the Norman Kings, gave rise
to numerous buildings of a far different
character. The barons, taking advantage
of the distracted state of the country, built
strong castles, and from these levied black
mail on their weaker neighbours. The
old Saxon Chronicler says : " When the
castles were finished they filled them with
devils and evil men. Then they took
those whom they suspected to have any
goods, putting both men and women in
prison for their gold and silver, and tortur-
ing them with pains unspeakable. They
robbed the monks and the clergy, and
every man plundered his neighbour as

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. igi

much as he could. Such, indeed was the
misery that it was said openly that
Christ and His Saints slept."

It was during this period of confusion
and misrule, in 1151, three years be-
fore Stephen's death, that Bolton
Abbey was established on the banks of
the Wharfe. Three other Yorkshire
Abbeys — Jervaux, Fountains, and Kirk-
stall, date from nearly the same year.

After William the Conqueror had
subdued our country he gave vast estates
to his chief followers. In this way a large
extent of land in the Craven district of
Yorkshire came into the hands of Robert
de Romille, a Norman baron, who built for
himself a castle at Skipton. His daughter
and heiress, Cecily, married one William
de Meschines, and some years after, in
1 120, founded and endowed a priory for
Canons Regular of the Order of St.
Augustine. The site of the foundation
was the village of Embsay, two miles east
of Skipton. In 1151 the priory was trans-
ferred to Bolton, by Alice, daughter of the
Lady Cecily, who had married a nephew
of David, King of Scotland. Wliy the
change was made is not exactly known.
It may have been to place the Abbey in a
pleasanter situation, and one less exposed
to pillage during the incursions of the
Scots. Legend asserts, however, that
the translation took place owing to the
only son of Lady Alice de Romille being

192 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

drowned by accident in the Wharfe, about
a mile distant.

As time passed on the influence and
worldly possessions of the establishment
increased apace, until, in 1199, we find
the Canons owning property bringing in
a yearly rental equal to ^2,800 of our
money. A few years later, we are told,
there were belonging to the Abbey over
2000 sheep and oxen. One hundred
husbandmen were employed on the estate,
while thirty other servants of a higher
grade were occupied as bakers, smiths,
&c., within the building. There were in
addition several hundreds of slaves, who
did the menial work and received no wages,
but coarse food and raiment. Twenty of
them were in the service of the prior who
ruled the establishment which, in its most
prosperous days, comprised not less than
1000 persons, including the prior, fifteen
canons, gentlemen dependents, servants,
and slaves.

By their rules the Augustinians enjoyed
a freer life than other monks. It is said
they were well shod, well clad, and well
fed. The latter we can readily believe
on reading over the huge quantities of meat,
flour, game, cheese, ale, &c., which the
Bolton Canons consumed in twelve
months. Landseer, in his painting "Bolton
Abbey in the Olden Time," calls promi-
nent attention to this side of monastery
life. The foreground of his picture is

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I93

taken up by the huntsman, and his son
bringing in a fat deer and other game.
In the doorway stands the prior in white
cassock, his portly figure in itself sug-
gestive of the lines —

" The monks made good kale (broth)
On Fridays when they fasted."

We may say generally of the English
monasteries that as their wealth increased
their usefulness decreased. " It isdifficult,"
says the proverb, " to carry a full cup
without spilling," and so we find that, as
the income of their houses grew larger, the
monks became more prone to sloth and
self indulgence. There is no reason to
doubt that Bolton Abbey shared in the
general degeneration.

In consequence of these changes, the
orders of Henry VIII., in 1536 and 1539,
for the suppression of the monasteries,
caused little real loss to the country.
Bolton was given up to Henry's com-
missioners, on January 29th, 1540. The
deed of surrender is still preserved in
the British Museum. It was signed by
Prior Moone, and the fourteen canons then
in the Abbey, and gives many particulars
of the property. The Estate was granted
at a low price to Henry Clifford, Earl of
Cumberland, and from him descended to
the Dukes of Devonshire, to whom Bolton
woods now belong.

When the monastery was broken up,

194 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

every thing of value that was saleable
was removed. Even the lead was
stripped from the roofs and melted down
into pigs and fodders, to add a few pounds
to the proceeds, from such work of des-
truction. Every part was wrecked except-
ing the nave, which has continued in use
as a Parish Church. In a short time most
of what had been so fair and comely was
reduced to a ruin.

" To winds abandoned and the prying stars."

During the three hundred and more of
years which have since elapsed, some of
the walls have almost disappeared. Other
parts, upon which

" Old Time hath laid more lenient touches "

yet remain, focussing the interest in one
of the most cliarming of English valleys,
inspiring the pencil of the painter and the
pen of the poet, and affording at once an
object of interest and contemplation to all
whose mind dwells ever so slightly on the
past history of our land.

The scenery all along the upperWharfe is
singularly beautiful, and especially around
the Abbey, assumes a most romantic
character. Bolton, indeed, owes most of
its present interest, not to the skill of its
builders nor to the energy of its priors, but
to its picturesque surroundings, bestowed
so lavishly by " Auld Nature " herself.

When Prior Moone was called upon to

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I95

resign his charge in 1539, he was engaged
in building a fine tower at the western
end of the Abbey church. This tower,
though never finished, still remains the
most noticeable feature of the building.
It is in the Perpendicular style, and three
of the buttresses are curiously ornamented
with dogs, carved possibly m allusion to
the office of Master Forester, which Prior
Moone held to the Clifford family.
Passing under this western tower we
come to the original front, whose lancet
windows and clustered shafts betoken the
Early English style. The church has thus
now two west fronts, with two hundred and
fifty years between their dates of building,
and in this respect holds an almost unique
position in architectural annals.

The nave, which has only one aisle, has
beeen converted into a neat place of
worship, suited for present day needs.
Under the Chantry, which formerly
existed at the east end of the north aisle,
was the burial vault of the Claphams of
Beamsley Hall, who are said to have been
buried unpright. Wordsworth, in " The
White Doe of Rylstone," thus refers to
the legend —

" Pass, pass, who will yon chantry door
And through the chink in the fractured floor,
Look down and see a griesly si^ht,
A vault where the bodies are buried upright.'

On the soutli side of the nave may be
seen a gallery by which the monks reached

ig6 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

the church from their dormitory. Mass
was sometimes celebrated at mid-
night, and there were frequent early
morning services. On these occasions
the monks would pass from their sleeping
apartments to the church without coming
into the open air.

Nothing remains now of the central
tower but the arches which supported it,
while portions of crumbling wall, wreathed
with masses of luxuriant ivy, mark the
extent of the two transepts. At the foot
of the one remaining wall in the south
transept was found a slab with the epitaph,
"Hicjacet d'n's Chrofer Wod quo'd'm
P'or." Christopher Wood was the eight-
eenth prior of Bolton, and died 1483.
Did he, like Browning's bishop, fight
" with tooth and nail " to save this spot
for himself ?

Did he think here to

" lie through centuries
And hear the blessed mutter of the mass
And see God made and eaten all day long.
And feel the steady candle flame, and taste
Good strong thick stupifying incense smoke"?

As was usual in the building of large
churches, the chancel was probably the
first part commenced, although this and
other portions were afterwards rebuilt in
the Decorated Style. This rebuilding
may have been necessary, owing to the
damage done by the Scots when they
pillaged the priory in 1316 and 1320.

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. I97

A specimen of the ornamentation of the
first chancel yet exists in an arcade of
round, intersecting arches, running along
the lower part of each side wall. Under
this arcade were nineteen seats on each
side, for the use of the canons during the
services. On the south side, close by
where the high altar once stood, are the
remains of a piscina and four sedilia.
The latter were stone seats used by the
officiating priests during mass. They are
rarely found quadruple as at Bolton.
The graceful foliated tracery of the
windows has nearly all disappeared, and
it is difficult now to imagine the scene
which would here have met the eye in
past days of grand religious ceremony.

As was usually the case, the Bolton
monks, appreciating the warmth of a
genial sun, arranged their own apart-
ments on the south or sheltered side of
the church. Few traces, however, remain
of their dormitory, refectory, or other
offices.

The consecrated ground on the north
side is still used for burials. The object
of most interest is a Cross, erected in
memory of the late Lord Frederick
Cavendish. It bears the inscription :

To the beloved memory of

LORD FREDERICK CHARLES CAVENDISH,

born 1836.

He went out as Chief Secretary to Ireland

•' Full of love to that country,

Full of hope for her future,

igS YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Full of capacity to render her service,

and was murdered

in the Phoenix Park, Dublin,

within twelve hours of his arrival

May 6th, 1.882.

" The Lord grant thee thy heart's desire

And fulfil all thy mind."

Connected with the Church5^ard is the
touching legend of " The White Doe of
Rylstone," retold by Wordsworth in his
" Fate of the Nortons." The Nortons
lived at Rylstone, and the father and eight
sons were condemned for joining the
" Rising of the North," in Elizabeth's
reign.

Before their execution at York, they
committed to the care of the eldest son,
who had not joined the rebellion, their
banner to lay on the altar of Bolton Abbey.
He, however, was pursued and slain in the
Wharfe valley, and his body buried in the
priory graveyard. The only survivor of
the family, a sorrowing sister, frequently
visited his crave, accompanied by a milk-
white doe, which had become her con-
stant companion. When death, soon
after, ended the sufferings of the unhappy
maiden, the doe continued for long to
haunt their favourite spots, especially the
grave in the priory churchyard.

A mile further up the river, amongst the
most charming woodland scenery, is the
Strid or Stride. Here for some fifty yards
the river runs through a narrow rift in the
gritstone rock, only five or six feet wide.
It is possible to spring across, but a slip

YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES. IQQ

or false step would lead to certain death,
in the foaming torrent beneath. Tradition
says that the only son ol the Lady Alice
de Romille, in attempting this feat, was
swept away, and that in memory of his
death, the mother transferred the priory
from Embsay to Bolton. The legend
attracted the fancy of Wordsworth and
Samuel Rogers, and was versified by both.
The former, in his poem, " The Force of
Prayer," thus relates the story : —

Young Romilly, through Barden woods,
Is ranging high and low,
And holds a greyhound in a leash
To Jet slip upon buck and doe.

The pair have reached that fearful chasm.
How tempting to bestride,
The lonely Wharfe is there pent in
With rocks on either side.

He sprang in glee — for what cared he
That the river was strong and the rocks were steep
But the greyhound in the leash hung back,
And checked him in his leap.

The boy is in the arms of Wharf,
And strangled by a merciless force ;
For never more was young Romilly seen
Till he rose a lifeless corse.

'What is good for a bootless bene ?'(irreparable loss)

The falconer to the lady sairl.

And she made answer " Kndless sorrow,"

For she knew that her son was dead.

She knew it by the falconer's words
And from the lool< of the falciiier's eye,
And from the love which was in her soul
For her youthful Romilly.

200 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

Long, long in darkness did she sit,
And her first words were, " Let there be
In Bolton, on the field of Wharf,
A stately priory."

The stately priory was reared.
And Wharf, as he moved along,
To matins joined a mournful voice,
Nor failed at even-song.

Alfred Chamberlain, b.a.

20I

To Bolton Abbey.
By Rev. E. G. Charlesworth.

Though sadder to poetic ears
Thine ancient river song appears
Than when it passed thee days of yore
Majestic in thy youthful 3'ears,
Th}' ruin makes more dear its shore,
More dear the trees, the flowers, the sky,
More dear all things unto thee nigh.

A full moon in ascent to-night
That saw thy glory at full height.
Hath sent to thee a tender ray
My fancy christens — " Pity's light."

In earth thy broken walls enclose
*Is dust of noblest of my race,
Famous in war and in the chase
When to full bloom spread York's white
rose.

A vision in my spirit swells,
A love that feels the touch of pain,
A prayer that fades into complain ;
Thou art not in thy youth again.

*See Wordsworth's "Claphams and Mauleverers."

202 YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.

And yet I seem with inner ear
As if the olden times had come,
To hear the music of thy bells,
Breeze-blown from their whole-tower-home

To hear their lowering tones as night
Grows to the time of final prayer,
Lowering and lowering until low
Like whispers in a summer air.

Their speech of peace above the world,
Their speech of death that will be gain
Of quiet joy if born of pain,
Greater alway than is the pain.

My prayer that faded lives again
As with an inner eye I seem
To see lamps burning in thine aisles,
And I forget it is a dream.

Stay rainbow-bridge 'twixt now and then
For much on thy far side I see,
And much on it more loved by me
Than latter shapes of things and men .

For, faith now dead in every way,
Love, thinks her end will come with death,
Grown cold, what wonder if she saith
" Do things love which but live a day."

INDEX.

Andrews, Wm., F.R.H. S. A Biographical Romance,
ii8 — 123 ; James Nayler, 165 — 173.

Anglo-Saxon Poet, The First ; by J. H. Leggott,
F.R.H. S., 27-34.

Anjou, Margaret of, 174.

Arram, 143.

Barnett, JosFy, Weaver of Driffield, 182—183.

Barnsley Fair, 146.

Batty, John, on " Lee Fair," 147.

Benson, (ieo.; Old Customs at York, 41—57.

Bentley, John, Linen Weaver, Welton, 183.

Beverley, 140, 141. 1S3 ; Invasion of, 141 ; Bleaching

done at, 183 ; St. John of, 140—144.
Biographical Romance, A ; by Wm. Andrews,

F.R.H.S., 118- 123.
Bolton Abbey: Its History and Legends; by

Alfred Chamberlain, B.A., 190—200; Lines to

"Bolton Abbey;" by Rev. E. G. Charlesvvorth,

201 .
Bridlington, 139 ; Manor of, 143.
Brockie, Wm.; The Cow Devil. A Legend of

Craven, 20 — 26.
Brunanburgh. the Battle of ; by Fred. Ross,

F.R.H. S,, 35-40.

Csedmon, Anglo-Saxon Poet, 27 — 34.

Carpet Manufacturing in Yorkshire, 183.

Cazzons for fuel, 187.

Chamberlain, Alfred, B.A.; Bolton .\bbey : Its

History and Legends, 190 — 200.
Charlesworth, Rev. E. G., To Bolton Abbey, a

Poem, 201.
Chester Fairs, 146.

204 INDEX.

Cow Devil, The. A Legend of Ciaven, by Wm.

Brockie, 20 — 26.
Craven, A Legend of, 20 — 26.

Duke Richard's Doom : A Legend of Sandal
Castle; by Edward Lamplough, 174 — 179.

Elizabethan Gleanings [in Yorkshire] ; by Aaron

Watson, 58 — 61.
Erbury, Dorcas, 169.
Exeter, 169.

Fairbotham, Jas., Weaver of Nafiferton, 181 — 182.
Fairs, History of, 145 — 164; held in Churchyards,

152.
Fight. The, for the Hornsea Fishery. A Trial by

Combat ; by T. Tindall Wildridge, 62—68.
Flamborough, 3.
Fleming, Drago de Beure, 143.
Folk Assemblies ; by John Nicholson, 69 — 76.
Frost, Thos. ; An Outline History of Yorkstire,

I — 19 ; Yorkshire Fairs and Festivals, 145 — 164.

Gould's Baring, Yorkshire Odditits. quoted, 153 —
156.

Hedon, 139.

Holderness, The Salvation of ; by Frederick Ross

137—144-
Holm, 172 — 173.
Hudson, Wm. H., the Wakefield Mysteries, 103 —

117.

Jan Magan, Island of, granted to Hull Merchants,
189.

King's Rippon, 172.

Kirkby Wharfe, Quaint Gleanings from the Parish
Register chest of, by Richd. Wilton, M. A., 77 — 102

Lamplough, Edward ; Duke Richard's Doom : a

Legend of Sandal Castle, 174 — 179.
Laybourne, Mark, Wood-turner, 185.
Leather Breeches, Manufacture of, 186.
Leggott, J. H., F.R.H.S. ; The First Anglo-Saxon

Poet, 27 — 34.

INDEX. 205

Line, Manufacture of, 180 — 181.
London, 172, 174.
Long Kiston, 143.

March, Edward, Earl of, 175.
Market Weighton, 141.

Nayler, Jas. , the Mad Quaker, who claimed to be
the Messiah, by Wm. Andrews, F.R.H.S.,
165—173.

Nicholson, John ; Folk Assemblies, 69—76 ;
Obsolete Industriesof the East Riding, 180—189.

Northampton, 174.

Nostell Fair, 151.

Obsolete Industries of the East Riding, by John
Nicholson, 180—189.

Patrington, 139.
Paull, Shipbuilding at, 187—8.
Pocklington, 141.
Pontfcfract, 146.

Ross, Fred.,F. R. H.S.; The Battle of Brunanburgh
35_^o ; The Salvation of Holderness, 137—144,

St. John of Beverley, Archbishop of York, 140—144.
Sandal Castle, a Legend of, 174 — 179.
Scatchard's History of Morley, quoted, 148, 150 ;

On James Nayler, 170.
Skipton Castle, 191.
Smith's Old Yorkshire, quoted, 150.
Swan, Wm.; A Biographical Romance, by Wm.

Andrews, F.R.H.S., 118 — 123.
Sydney, W., F.R.S.L.; Some Scraps and Shreds

of Yorkshire Superstition, 124 — 136.
Towneley Mysteries, 147 — 148.

Wakefield, 103— 117, 147—8, 172, 179 ; Court Rolls
of, 148 ; The Wakefield Mysteries, by Wm. H.
Hudson, 103— 117; the Mysteries, 147 — 148.

Watson, Aaron ; Elizabethan Gleanings in York-
shire, 58 — 61.

Weavers, Jimmy Welbourn the last of the, 184—5.

206 INDEX.

Welhamstede on the capture of York, 179.

West Ardsley, Lee Fair at, 146 — 150.

Whale Fishery, 188.

Whalebone used for Gate-posts, 188.

Wildridge, T. Tindall ; the Fight for the Hornsea

Fishery. A Trial by Combat, 62 — 68.
Wilton, Rev. Richard, M.A.; Quaint Gleanings

from the Parish Register Chest of Kirkby

Wharfe, 77 — 102.
Winchester Fair, 146.
Woodkirk Fair, 148 — 9.

York, Richard, Duke of, 174 — 179

York, 141, 142, 174, 177, 178, 179; Ascension day
in, 43 ; Christmas in, 53 ; Corpus Christi Day
at, 44 ; Lammas Fair at, 47 ; Martinmas at, 47;
Old Customs at, by Geo. Benson, 41 — 57 ;
Punishments of, 56 — 7 : St. George's Day at, 42 ;
St. Luke's Day at, 46 ; Shrove Tuesday at, 41 ;
Twelve Days of Sanctuary at, 50.

Yorkshire, an Outline History of, by Thomas
Frost, I — 19; Battle of Brunanburg, 35 — 40;
Battle of the Standard, 8 — 9 ; Bolton Abbey,
190 — 200; Lines on, 201 ; Catholic Conspiracy in,
14 — 17; Civil War in, 17—19; Carpet Weaving
in, 183 ; Elizabethan Gleanings, 58 — 61 ; Fairs
and Festivals, 145 — 164 ; Folk Assemblies in,
69—76; Incursions of the Danes in, 4 — 6;
Pilgrimage of Grace in, 10 — 14; Romans in, 2;
Some Scraps and Shreds of Yorkshire Super-
stition, 124 — 136; Under the Heptarchy, 3;
Wars of the Roses in, 9 ; Weaving in, 180- 186 ;
William the Conqueror in, 6 — 8.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles

This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.

-.$.

JAN 30 IW

ate -i '

FER ?. 8 1998

. LI? . ^

1 1^-..

REC'O LDURL

4 \NK NOV n ;
OCT 18 W

1996

Form L9-2 5hi-9,'47(A5G18)444

3 1158 01338 4770

3 1158 01338 4762